1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,360
S1: Hey, I'm Ali, thanks for checking out the Carl and

2
00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,880
S1: Crew show. Did you know Carl and crew airs live

3
00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,080
S1: weekday mornings from 5 to 9 Central Time. Go to

4
00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,680
S1: Carl and Crew org for ways to listen in your area.

5
00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,600
S1: Now let's get to today's episode.

6
00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,759
S2: Coming to you live from the call of Hope studio.

7
00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,880
S2: This is Carl and crew.

8
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,760
S3: It's Carl and crew. We're talking abundance out of scarcity.

9
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:30,360
S3: How glad are we that God brings abundance out of

10
00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,080
S3: our scarcity? Anyone? Give me a hallelujah this morning.

11
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,279
S4: Hallelujah. I've gotta. I don't know if you've noticed this, guys.

12
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,320
S4: I have a lot of scarcity, you know, sometimes. And

13
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,960
S4: so having God to be abundant in the midst of

14
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,600
S4: the things where I lack is very important.

15
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:50,519
S3: Yeah, it's it's it's amazing if we if we begin

16
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:56,360
S3: to measure our God's ability to work based on what

17
00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:57,320
S3: we have.

18
00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:58,000
S4: Mhm.

19
00:00:58,680 --> 00:00:59,240
S3: We're.

20
00:01:00,940 --> 00:01:04,300
S4: Like, I somehow am responsible for getting God halfway there

21
00:01:04,300 --> 00:01:06,300
S4: or something, and then he takes care of the rest.

22
00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:06,779
S4: But no.

23
00:01:07,220 --> 00:01:08,020
S5: We need to talk.

24
00:01:09,180 --> 00:01:11,820
S4: Bring nothing to the table on a regular basis. He's

25
00:01:11,819 --> 00:01:12,300
S4: got me.

26
00:01:12,580 --> 00:01:16,179
S3: Yeah, I one of my favorite passages. I'll just flip

27
00:01:16,180 --> 00:01:20,580
S3: there quickly. Here is Second Corinthians because it's such a

28
00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:25,300
S3: vital thing. A lot of people see weakness, especially in

29
00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:28,340
S3: the backdrop of the American dream. We see weakness as

30
00:01:28,740 --> 00:01:32,980
S3: a massive problem, whereas God sees it as a commodity.

31
00:01:34,340 --> 00:01:37,500
S3: It's one of the, um, it's one of the coolest

32
00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:40,060
S3: things that you'll find. And that is the apostle Paul

33
00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:47,860
S3: celebrating his weakness. And, you know, it's I think one

34
00:01:47,860 --> 00:01:51,740
S3: of the great dangers here is that we begin to

35
00:01:51,740 --> 00:01:54,460
S3: see and I really believe this. I think we layer

36
00:01:54,460 --> 00:02:00,630
S3: the American dream of self-actualization visualization. I go get it

37
00:02:00,630 --> 00:02:04,470
S3: over the gospel and it's just it's incompatible. It doesn't work.

38
00:02:04,510 --> 00:02:08,710
S4: Yeah, you're absolutely right. It it doesn't work. God is

39
00:02:08,710 --> 00:02:12,030
S4: the one who brings it all. And like you said,

40
00:02:12,030 --> 00:02:15,070
S4: praise him that in the midst of our scarcity, in

41
00:02:15,070 --> 00:02:18,550
S4: the midst of the lack of what we bring. He's

42
00:02:18,550 --> 00:02:21,389
S4: a God. That you said it earlier this week, Carl.

43
00:02:21,430 --> 00:02:26,790
S4: He provides. But in the midst of provision, he always satisfies.

44
00:02:26,790 --> 00:02:29,590
S4: Whether we have much, we have little, we have what

45
00:02:29,590 --> 00:02:32,669
S4: we need, and we are satisfied through what he brings.

46
00:02:32,669 --> 00:02:34,829
S4: And I think that that's a really important sticking point

47
00:02:34,830 --> 00:02:35,550
S4: for this week.

48
00:02:35,870 --> 00:02:39,510
S3: Yeah. The passage I'm referring to and you need this

49
00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:44,030
S3: boom crew is second Corinthians, second Corinthians, chapter 12. The

50
00:02:44,030 --> 00:02:46,070
S3: apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh. And there's

51
00:02:46,070 --> 00:02:49,270
S3: a lot of discussion about what that was. Most probably

52
00:02:49,270 --> 00:02:52,830
S3: I've concluded it probably was an eyesight issue, and he

53
00:02:52,830 --> 00:02:56,930
S3: knew that God could heal it. So he appealed to him.

54
00:02:57,090 --> 00:03:00,970
S3: Not once, not twice, but three times. I pleaded with

55
00:03:00,970 --> 00:03:03,130
S3: the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But

56
00:03:03,130 --> 00:03:07,210
S3: he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you,

57
00:03:09,050 --> 00:03:13,970
S3: for my power is made perfect in weakness. So Paul

58
00:03:13,970 --> 00:03:16,049
S3: went on to write, therefore I boast all the more

59
00:03:16,050 --> 00:03:19,170
S3: gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ

60
00:03:19,210 --> 00:03:21,889
S3: may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then

61
00:03:21,889 --> 00:03:27,450
S3: I am content with my weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

62
00:03:27,610 --> 00:03:31,850
S3: For when I am weak, then I am strong. God's

63
00:03:31,850 --> 00:03:39,010
S3: power is perfected in our weakness. Weakness in the spiritual

64
00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:44,090
S3: realm is a commodity. Yes. It's good.

65
00:03:44,450 --> 00:03:48,570
S4: It's good because how? How much greater is the testimony

66
00:03:48,570 --> 00:03:50,970
S4: when everyone else around us can see? We brought nothing

67
00:03:51,010 --> 00:03:52,450
S4: to the table. Yeah.

68
00:03:54,210 --> 00:03:57,860
S3: So one of the big lies that's rolling around out

69
00:03:57,860 --> 00:04:01,500
S3: there is that we have to have a whole bunch

70
00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:03,700
S3: of faith if we're going to see God move in

71
00:04:03,700 --> 00:04:07,580
S3: our lives. And we actually look at a passage of

72
00:04:07,580 --> 00:04:14,020
S3: Scripture that would imply, yeah, you better suck it up, buttercup,

73
00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:19,460
S3: because this is this is real. You just don't have

74
00:04:19,460 --> 00:04:26,539
S3: enough faith. The scene is where the disciples are talking

75
00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:30,420
S3: to Jesus, and they're embarrassed because a man that loved

76
00:04:30,420 --> 00:04:34,260
S3: his kids so big time came to the disciples and said, hey, listen,

77
00:04:35,020 --> 00:04:39,220
S3: my son has seizures. He keeps throwing himself into the

78
00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:47,300
S3: fire or into water. And they apparently couldn't do anything

79
00:04:47,300 --> 00:04:50,180
S3: because then the man comes to Jesus and he says, hey, look,

80
00:04:50,180 --> 00:04:52,420
S3: I was talking to your disciples about this, and they

81
00:04:52,420 --> 00:04:57,039
S3: couldn't do anything about it. And Jesus said, oh, let

82
00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,839
S3: me deal with that. And the demon leaves the boy,

83
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,640
S3: the disciples, a little bit embarrassed, and they get him

84
00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,240
S3: alone privately because they didn't want to ask in public, hey,

85
00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,320
S3: what's going on here? And he says, oh, you of

86
00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,760
S3: little faith. Now, the great danger here is that could

87
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:22,760
S3: get us thinking I need more faith. But is that

88
00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,520
S3: what Jesus was saying? That's really the question we have here.

89
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,320
S3: Is that what he was saying? And I'm here to

90
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,960
S3: tell you this morning that is not what he was saying. Well,

91
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,400
S3: Carly says it right here, and I will agree with you.

92
00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,000
S3: I'm with John Piper on this one. At first blush,

93
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,160
S3: it's a head scratcher.

94
00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:40,640
S4: Sure.

95
00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,400
S3: But if you read a little more deeply and then

96
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:50,120
S3: you let Scripture interpret Scripture, even second Corinthians 12, and

97
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,250
S3: the totality of Scripture says that we don't bring anything

98
00:05:54,290 --> 00:05:56,570
S3: to the table. I think we can get it a

99
00:05:56,570 --> 00:06:00,570
S3: little more clarified. If you feel like you have scarcity

100
00:06:00,570 --> 00:06:04,970
S3: of faith this morning, I want to tell you you

101
00:06:04,970 --> 00:06:10,970
S3: are strategically positioned for God to do something mighty in

102
00:06:10,970 --> 00:06:15,170
S3: your life. It's all about what you do with that

103
00:06:15,170 --> 00:06:18,130
S3: little bit of scarcity faith. Hang on.

104
00:06:19,170 --> 00:06:23,130
S2: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to

105
00:06:23,170 --> 00:06:24,130
S2: Carl and crew.

106
00:06:24,330 --> 00:06:26,810
S3: We're talking abundance out of scarcity. And. Oh, man, we

107
00:06:26,850 --> 00:06:29,010
S3: got a line up here today. We've got Doctor Bradley

108
00:06:29,050 --> 00:06:31,810
S3: is going to be with us talking about seeds of belief,

109
00:06:31,810 --> 00:06:34,410
S3: how these little things begin to grow and cultivate. We're

110
00:06:34,410 --> 00:06:38,049
S3: going to have an incredible morning here. But this whole

111
00:06:38,050 --> 00:06:41,370
S3: issue of faith is a big one, man. We can

112
00:06:41,370 --> 00:06:44,770
S3: get hung up on this. It's it's a notion that

113
00:06:44,770 --> 00:06:49,089
S3: we need to have more faith to watch things change.

114
00:06:49,089 --> 00:06:51,350
S3: And we often go to a passage like this. I'm

115
00:06:51,350 --> 00:06:53,510
S3: going to back up and tell you the story. Big

116
00:06:53,510 --> 00:06:57,990
S3: old crowd came around. Jesus. And there was one man

117
00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:01,630
S3: that was just saying, my son, he's having seizures, and

118
00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:04,150
S3: he's throwing himself into the fire and into water. And

119
00:07:04,150 --> 00:07:06,350
S3: by the way, when I was in the Philippines a

120
00:07:06,390 --> 00:07:09,070
S3: lot of years ago, I got to my assignment for

121
00:07:09,070 --> 00:07:11,150
S3: the summer. Here I am, a two year old follower

122
00:07:11,150 --> 00:07:13,790
S3: of Jesus Christ and they said, man, pastor, we're so

123
00:07:13,790 --> 00:07:15,790
S3: glad you're here. And I'm like, hold on, I'm not

124
00:07:15,790 --> 00:07:18,590
S3: a pastor. Uh, but they called me a pastor and

125
00:07:18,590 --> 00:07:21,630
S3: I knew, uh oh, we got trouble. Yeah. Um, so

126
00:07:21,670 --> 00:07:23,950
S3: they said we got a woman that keeps throwing herself

127
00:07:23,950 --> 00:07:26,670
S3: into fire. And I thought, man, I know that that's

128
00:07:26,670 --> 00:07:29,790
S3: somewhere in Scripture. And sure enough, it's not only here

129
00:07:29,790 --> 00:07:34,150
S3: in Matthew 17, it's in Mark chapter nine. And Mark

130
00:07:34,150 --> 00:07:37,670
S3: chapter nine helps eliminate some of the challenges here. So

131
00:07:37,710 --> 00:07:41,550
S3: the story goes on that this man said, hey, I

132
00:07:41,550 --> 00:07:44,550
S3: went to your disciples. I'm trying to get help from them.

133
00:07:44,550 --> 00:07:47,429
S3: But they couldn't do anything. They couldn't do anything at all.

134
00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,440
S3: And Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long

135
00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,280
S3: am I to be with you? How long am I

136
00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:55,920
S3: to bear with you? Bring him here to me. And

137
00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,600
S3: Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out. The boy

138
00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:04,920
S3: was healed instantly. Bada bing, bada boom, right? Then the

139
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,240
S3: disciples came privately to Jesus and said, why could we

140
00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,400
S3: not cast it out? And he said to them, because

141
00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,720
S3: of your little faith. So it would appear you need

142
00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,520
S3: more faith. And I will tell you right now that

143
00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,680
S3: the Greek word for little means little. But you got

144
00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,680
S3: to read on. For truly I say to you, if

145
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,960
S3: you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you

146
00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,719
S3: will be able to say, mountain, move from here to there,

147
00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,960
S3: and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.

148
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:44,480
S3: Now this is epic and it seems contradictory, if not

149
00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,780
S3: for the same story being told in Mark nine, because

150
00:08:48,780 --> 00:08:52,060
S3: in Mark nine we get a much more text here.

151
00:08:52,780 --> 00:08:55,540
S3: But the expanded text in Mark nine goes on to

152
00:08:55,580 --> 00:09:01,380
S3: tell the disciples these come out through prayer. Some manuscripts

153
00:09:01,380 --> 00:09:07,059
S3: say prayer and fasting. Most reliable manuscripts say just prayer.

154
00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:11,260
S3: But what is prayer? What is it, young thunder? What

155
00:09:11,260 --> 00:09:11,900
S3: is prayer?

156
00:09:12,140 --> 00:09:15,340
S4: Prayer is communication. Conversation with God.

157
00:09:15,900 --> 00:09:21,340
S3: Okay, it is conversation with God. What we have going

158
00:09:21,340 --> 00:09:24,900
S3: on here is a great tool, a use of the

159
00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:29,699
S3: same word to show a compare and contrast. You don't

160
00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:33,620
S3: have faith. You have little faith. But then he says,

161
00:09:33,620 --> 00:09:41,179
S3: but little faith can change everything. So what's he talking about?

162
00:09:41,540 --> 00:09:44,420
S3: Simple principle. And I'm going to give it to you

163
00:09:44,460 --> 00:09:48,390
S3: straight ahead. It could change the way you walk with

164
00:09:48,390 --> 00:09:49,710
S3: Jesus today.

165
00:09:50,070 --> 00:09:52,750
S2: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't

166
00:09:52,790 --> 00:09:56,590
S2: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.

167
00:09:56,830 --> 00:09:59,390
S2: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

168
00:09:59,429 --> 00:10:01,230
S3: So you got a little bit of faith, a little

169
00:10:01,230 --> 00:10:04,750
S3: scarcity faith. What if I told you that that little

170
00:10:04,790 --> 00:10:08,990
S3: bit of scarcity faith can move mountains? Oh, that's right.

171
00:10:08,990 --> 00:10:13,470
S3: I didn't tell you that Jesus did. Mountain moving faith. Now,

172
00:10:13,470 --> 00:10:16,750
S3: the question is, how do we do that? And what

173
00:10:16,750 --> 00:10:19,550
S3: what's what's Jesus saying here? So I just want to

174
00:10:19,550 --> 00:10:21,790
S3: go back and recap here quickly. If you go to

175
00:10:21,830 --> 00:10:24,950
S3: Matthew 17, it would appear that the big problem with

176
00:10:24,950 --> 00:10:27,790
S3: the disciples unable to cast a demon out of a

177
00:10:27,790 --> 00:10:30,590
S3: kid who was throwing his body into the fire and

178
00:10:30,590 --> 00:10:35,190
S3: into the water. And by the way, another interesting story.

179
00:10:35,230 --> 00:10:38,030
S3: Not only did I run into a woman who was,

180
00:10:38,030 --> 00:10:41,910
S3: by the way, released from a demonic oppression that was

181
00:10:42,550 --> 00:10:45,970
S3: really forcing her into flames, she would throw herself into

182
00:10:45,970 --> 00:10:51,130
S3: the fires. Cooking fires in the village of Talisay, Batangas. Yeah.

183
00:10:51,650 --> 00:10:54,010
S3: My dad had an occasion when he was called over

184
00:10:54,010 --> 00:10:57,130
S3: to a home of a woman who was just terrorized

185
00:10:57,130 --> 00:11:01,850
S3: by Satan, that she was attempting to throw herself into

186
00:11:01,850 --> 00:11:04,170
S3: the lake when an intervention happened with my dad, who

187
00:11:04,170 --> 00:11:07,290
S3: was one of the elders and another pastor. And they

188
00:11:07,290 --> 00:11:09,850
S3: had to follow her as she walked. She wouldn't stop.

189
00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:13,290
S3: She kept walking toward the lake as this intervention with

190
00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:17,770
S3: darkness was unfolding. And as they walked into the lake

191
00:11:17,770 --> 00:11:20,970
S3: with her there, trying to restrain her. But my dad

192
00:11:20,970 --> 00:11:23,970
S3: and the other elder pastor there began to speak out.

193
00:11:23,970 --> 00:11:26,530
S3: The Lord rebuke you, Satan, you have no authority over

194
00:11:26,530 --> 00:11:31,050
S3: this precious woman. And she stopped about chest high in water,

195
00:11:31,050 --> 00:11:32,890
S3: and looked at my dad and looked at the other

196
00:11:32,890 --> 00:11:36,650
S3: man and said, what's going on? Why am I here?

197
00:11:36,730 --> 00:11:37,090
S4: Oh.

198
00:11:37,370 --> 00:11:38,570
S6: Man. Oh.

199
00:11:39,010 --> 00:11:39,410
S5: Whoa!

200
00:11:39,610 --> 00:11:42,130
S3: They walked her back out and that woman walked forward

201
00:11:42,130 --> 00:11:45,620
S3: in victory. So it's interesting here I've I've had an

202
00:11:45,620 --> 00:11:49,300
S3: experience my dad has both with fire and water. And

203
00:11:49,300 --> 00:11:52,620
S3: they are symbols of trying to really take someone's life.

204
00:11:52,980 --> 00:11:58,740
S3: That's what that's what Satan's trying to do. So if

205
00:11:58,740 --> 00:12:02,740
S3: you look at this demonized boy, there's just huge stuff

206
00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:06,860
S3: that comes out of this. The disciples couldn't deal with

207
00:12:06,860 --> 00:12:12,860
S3: this demon that was afflicting this boy. And Jesus says, man,

208
00:12:12,860 --> 00:12:17,140
S3: this generation. So what's he doing? Is he really disgusted? No,

209
00:12:17,140 --> 00:12:21,500
S3: he is spiking a point here that is powerful. He says, oh,

210
00:12:21,540 --> 00:12:25,340
S3: you of little faith. I'm convinced based on the context.

211
00:12:25,340 --> 00:12:27,260
S3: And I'm going to give you a broader context here.

212
00:12:27,300 --> 00:12:29,579
S3: Let me help you with this one. This is really cool.

213
00:12:29,700 --> 00:12:31,980
S3: You read just a little bit further down. He says,

214
00:12:31,980 --> 00:12:34,100
S3: if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you

215
00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:39,780
S3: can move a mountain. Now that is a teeny tiny seed.

216
00:12:40,220 --> 00:12:42,640
S3: So you got to gotta go. Hold on. Here. Head scratcher.

217
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,680
S3: But if you look at the the same account from

218
00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:50,360
S3: Mark chapter nine, you find that he goes way. It's

219
00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:54,760
S3: a way expanded story tell of the same situation. And

220
00:12:54,760 --> 00:13:00,320
S3: he says these are only cast out through prayer and fasting.

221
00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,920
S3: Most manuscripts just say prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is

222
00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:10,480
S3: communication of our utter dependence on God. But it even

223
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,880
S3: gets better than that because the mustard seed is used

224
00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,840
S3: as a metaphor on two occasions. One is for this

225
00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,480
S3: demonized boy saying faith of a mustard seed can move

226
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,880
S3: a mountain, but it's also used here in Mark chapter four.

227
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,760
S3: And a lot of you maybe have not seen this,

228
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:28,040
S3: but it's really cool. He said, what can we what, uh,

229
00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,360
S3: with what can we compare the kingdom of God or

230
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,400
S3: what shall we use for it? It is like a

231
00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,319
S3: grain of mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground,

232
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,370
S3: is the smallest of all seeds on the earth, yet

233
00:13:41,370 --> 00:13:44,530
S3: when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger

234
00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:48,170
S3: than all the garden plants, and puts out large branches

235
00:13:48,170 --> 00:13:50,010
S3: so that the birds of the air can make its

236
00:13:50,010 --> 00:13:53,610
S3: nest in the shade. What he's describing here is the

237
00:13:53,610 --> 00:13:57,210
S3: kingdom of God. When it's sown in the ground, it's

238
00:13:57,210 --> 00:14:00,929
S3: sown and grows and becomes larger and puts out its branches.

239
00:14:01,890 --> 00:14:05,450
S3: And here's what we find in this story. It has

240
00:14:05,450 --> 00:14:10,970
S3: nothing to do with people. This is God's work. That

241
00:14:10,970 --> 00:14:13,610
S3: seed is planted and it grows and grows and grows.

242
00:14:13,610 --> 00:14:15,810
S3: And by the way, this prophecy, really it's a prophecy

243
00:14:15,809 --> 00:14:21,030
S3: of Jesus has been fulfilled. There's probably between 600 million

244
00:14:21,030 --> 00:14:26,490
S3: and 800 million people on the planet today who are

245
00:14:26,490 --> 00:14:30,350
S3: genuinely born again. And I'm doing my math from 2.6

246
00:14:30,350 --> 00:14:34,690
S3: billion claim Christ. And I'm just going with I'm going

247
00:14:34,690 --> 00:14:38,070
S3: with the parable of the soils. Just a rough estimate here,

248
00:14:38,070 --> 00:14:40,190
S3: that one out of the four of those soil types

249
00:14:40,190 --> 00:14:44,430
S3: were actually born again. And I think if you look

250
00:14:44,470 --> 00:14:47,550
S3: at America and go, yeah, okay, 80 plus percent still

251
00:14:47,550 --> 00:14:50,750
S3: claim to be Christian, how many really are. Some put

252
00:14:50,750 --> 00:14:55,550
S3: the estimates down around 6%, maybe 7% that are truly

253
00:14:55,550 --> 00:14:58,030
S3: born again. We don't know for sure. God's the ultimate

254
00:14:58,030 --> 00:15:02,870
S3: judge of that. But here's here's the point. The kingdom

255
00:15:02,870 --> 00:15:05,230
S3: of God, even if the kingdom of God here on

256
00:15:05,230 --> 00:15:09,190
S3: earth today was just 300 million faithful, do you know

257
00:15:09,190 --> 00:15:13,590
S3: that in 2000 years the gospel has so grown and

258
00:15:13,590 --> 00:15:18,270
S3: the branches are so reached out, not only in one continent,

259
00:15:18,270 --> 00:15:24,230
S3: but to every continent and to every country, that there

260
00:15:24,230 --> 00:15:30,670
S3: are more followers of Jesus today alive today than there

261
00:15:30,670 --> 00:15:35,470
S3: are than there were total people alive 2000 years ago,

262
00:15:35,470 --> 00:15:40,000
S3: 2000 years ago, there were estimates from demographers, anywhere from

263
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,560
S3: 200 million to 300 million people. There are more people

264
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:49,840
S3: following Jesus today than were alive on the planet.

265
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:50,520
S6: That's crazy.

266
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:51,160
S3: Thousand years.

267
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,160
S6: Ago. That's crazy.

268
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:52,960
S5: Yeah.

269
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:53,680
S3: Isn't that something?

270
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:54,200
S6: Yeah.

271
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,440
S3: So I still haven't answered your question. What if you

272
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:02,000
S3: got scarcity of faith? Here's here's the point. It's not

273
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:07,160
S3: the amount of your faith that moves mountains today. It's

274
00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,080
S3: the object of your faith. It's not the amount of

275
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:18,000
S3: your faith. The question is, where's your faith? Is your

276
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:24,760
S3: faith in your faith? That's misplaced faith. The faith of

277
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,000
S3: a mustard seed can move a mountain. The the faith

278
00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:36,300
S3: of a mustard seed is God's work. We find that

279
00:16:36,340 --> 00:16:40,860
S3: mark for God, the kingdom of God. He plants a seed.

280
00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:44,860
S3: He caused it to grow. He watered it. He spread it.

281
00:16:45,020 --> 00:16:48,140
S3: His work, his work alone. And then we find as

282
00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:51,980
S3: we go deeper into Mark chapter nine, we see an

283
00:16:51,980 --> 00:16:54,620
S3: expansion of this very story with this demonized boy. And

284
00:16:54,620 --> 00:16:58,140
S3: he says he's come out through prayer. What's he saying? Listen,

285
00:16:58,420 --> 00:17:03,300
S3: he had a misplaced faith, and it was a big

286
00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:05,580
S3: challenge for the disciples. And just like it is for

287
00:17:05,580 --> 00:17:08,660
S3: you and me, we often trust ourselves to do something

288
00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:12,020
S3: that only God can do. Listen, friend, here's what I'd say.

289
00:17:12,340 --> 00:17:16,700
S3: Scrape together every little bit of faith you have. You go, Carl,

290
00:17:16,700 --> 00:17:21,260
S3: I've got crumbs, man. You just get together those crumbs

291
00:17:21,300 --> 00:17:25,620
S3: of faith and place them all in God. And not one.

292
00:17:25,619 --> 00:17:31,820
S3: Scrap in yourself and watch what God can do. Watch

293
00:17:31,859 --> 00:17:36,200
S3: what God can do. abundance out of scarcity. It's all

294
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:37,560
S3: about trusting him alone.

295
00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,439
S2: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening

296
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:43,640
S2: to Carl and crew.

297
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,080
S3: You ever jump into a passage of Scripture like. Oh, no.

298
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:49,160
S6: Yes.

299
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,440
S1: Yes, yes. But what's the context?

300
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,680
S3: Well, what we we should do a we o we

301
00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,520
S3: should do a call segment sometime. That is what has

302
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:08,680
S3: been your most recent oh no passage of scripture. Write

303
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:12,200
S3: that down please. Write that down. Oh, yeah. Don't let

304
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,640
S3: it get lost in the chicken scratch in there. But

305
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,960
S3: what's been. We gotta. We gotta ask that sometime. You

306
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:21,360
S3: went to the scripture and you read something and you're like, oh, no.

307
00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,159
S6: I didn't want that conviction today.

308
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:29,000
S3: No. It's horrible. Yeah. Let's think about that for a

309
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:33,170
S3: second here. Okay. Come on guys. Get your cogitation machine

310
00:18:33,170 --> 00:18:36,930
S3: cooking there. Think about it a second. I'm popping this

311
00:18:36,970 --> 00:18:39,369
S3: on my team. This is so rude to do a

312
00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:41,169
S3: lot of prep time for this one.

313
00:18:41,850 --> 00:18:44,650
S4: I can think of my biggest, not my most recent,

314
00:18:44,650 --> 00:18:45,970
S4: but my big, the biggest.

315
00:18:45,970 --> 00:18:48,410
S3: 000, I think I know it. Go ahead.

316
00:18:48,609 --> 00:18:52,730
S4: Actually different. It's before the one you're thinking of.

317
00:18:52,770 --> 00:18:55,770
S3: But now we're talking in code and nobody knows what

318
00:18:55,770 --> 00:18:56,490
S3: we're saying.

319
00:18:56,530 --> 00:19:00,770
S4: Uh, revelation three one to the angel of the church

320
00:19:00,770 --> 00:19:03,130
S4: in Sardis write, these are the words to him who

321
00:19:03,130 --> 00:19:05,290
S4: holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

322
00:19:05,290 --> 00:19:08,050
S4: I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive,

323
00:19:08,050 --> 00:19:08,929
S4: but you are dead.

324
00:19:13,650 --> 00:19:17,169
S3: How how great is that for anyone that's got into

325
00:19:17,210 --> 00:19:21,690
S3: perfunctory faith and has lost their white hot love for Jesus?

326
00:19:21,730 --> 00:19:23,130
S5: Yeah, that's a that's.

327
00:19:23,130 --> 00:19:24,730
S1: A very sobering one for.

328
00:19:24,730 --> 00:19:26,650
S4: Sure. Yeah. So that one for me, that's a part

329
00:19:26,650 --> 00:19:29,370
S4: of my story that I, that was still months before

330
00:19:29,369 --> 00:19:32,350
S4: I came to Jesus. But I was going through all

331
00:19:32,350 --> 00:19:35,669
S4: this anxiety stuff and I said, well, let's read the word.

332
00:19:35,710 --> 00:19:38,950
S4: Journal about it. That'll that will help me. I didn't

333
00:19:38,950 --> 00:19:41,429
S4: know Jesus at the time. A little context, and then

334
00:19:41,430 --> 00:19:44,389
S4: I opened up the Bible one night. And that was

335
00:19:44,390 --> 00:19:46,710
S4: that was the passage that I read, and I said,

336
00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:50,389
S4: I'd like to be done. And that was the feeling

337
00:19:50,390 --> 00:19:52,669
S4: that I got because I was like, this is the

338
00:19:52,670 --> 00:19:54,989
S4: feeling that I'm trying to avoid. And this is the

339
00:19:54,990 --> 00:19:56,230
S4: passage that I'm reading.

340
00:19:56,869 --> 00:19:57,149
S3: Let me.

341
00:19:57,150 --> 00:19:57,990
S5: Just close.

342
00:19:57,990 --> 00:20:01,229
S3: I'm just telling you the Spirit of God directs things. Dude,

343
00:20:01,270 --> 00:20:02,790
S3: you just gotta be aware of that.

344
00:20:02,830 --> 00:20:03,870
S4: You certainly does.

345
00:20:07,990 --> 00:20:10,950
S7: I love this one. Oh, this is so fun.

346
00:20:11,310 --> 00:20:14,350
S3: This is really messing with people, you know. This is fun.

347
00:20:14,830 --> 00:20:15,950
S3: Mess with folks.

348
00:20:15,990 --> 00:20:18,030
S1: I mean, we know that the word of God is

349
00:20:18,030 --> 00:20:18,910
S1: gonna cut.

350
00:20:19,510 --> 00:20:20,230
S3: Oh, yeah.

351
00:20:20,270 --> 00:20:20,750
S1: So.

352
00:20:20,790 --> 00:20:22,510
S3: Yeah. Bone marrow, baby.

353
00:20:22,550 --> 00:20:24,669
S1: Sometimes it hurts when it cuts.

354
00:20:25,070 --> 00:20:27,150
S3: You know, the funny thing about God's word is he

355
00:20:27,150 --> 00:20:29,040
S3: provides no anesthesia?

356
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,080
S4: No, not so much.

357
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,800
S1: And it's like he's no respecter of person.

358
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:35,879
S5: That's true.

359
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:37,920
S1: It's going to cut everyone.

360
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:39,720
S5: That's right. No favoritism.

361
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:45,240
S3: Especially you self-righteous wanderers out there. You're about to get

362
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,840
S3: smacked upside the head with someone else's. Oh, no passage.

363
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,120
S3: Young thunder. That's a tough one coming out of the chute.

364
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:53,679
S3: Read that one.

365
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,560
S4: Again. Yeah. Uh, revelation three one to the angel of

366
00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,120
S4: the church in Sardis write, these are the words of

367
00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,239
S4: him who holds the seven spirits of God and the

368
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,040
S4: seven stars. I know your deeds. You have a reputation

369
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,480
S4: of being alive, but you are dead. That one in all.

370
00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,800
S4: I mean, in all candor, that one sucked to read it.

371
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:15,280
S3: That's that's candid.

372
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,600
S4: Pastor. Pastor kid. Uh, on a radio show. A Christian

373
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,399
S4: radio show definitely had a reputation of being alive. Definitely wasn't.

374
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:26,080
S4: That one was hard.

375
00:21:27,780 --> 00:21:29,820
S3: I thought you were going to go with. What do

376
00:21:29,820 --> 00:21:32,660
S3: you call me? Saviour. And I do what I say.

377
00:21:32,700 --> 00:21:35,500
S4: Yeah. That one was, uh. That one. That one certainly

378
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,540
S4: got me big, too. But, yeah, this one was. That

379
00:21:38,540 --> 00:21:40,780
S4: one was hard. Uh, first thing I thought of when

380
00:21:40,780 --> 00:21:44,100
S4: you said my. Oh, no passage. It's definitely a question

381
00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:44,980
S4: we've never done before.

382
00:21:45,020 --> 00:21:45,500
S5: Yeah, no.

383
00:21:45,540 --> 00:21:45,980
S3: We've never.

384
00:21:45,980 --> 00:21:47,859
S5: Done this. Revelation two I don't know.

385
00:21:47,900 --> 00:21:50,700
S3: Oh, well, it's because it's coming drawing nigh, and your

386
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:53,780
S3: lamp stands about to get ripped out from under your britches.

387
00:21:54,060 --> 00:21:55,540
S5: That too. So I'm like, oh.

388
00:21:55,780 --> 00:21:58,740
S3: Oh, good. Well, go super. Let's light them up.

389
00:21:58,780 --> 00:22:02,300
S5: Okay, well, it's revelation three, uh, 15 and talking about

390
00:22:02,340 --> 00:22:05,060
S5: being lukewarm and I spit you out of my mouth.

391
00:22:05,340 --> 00:22:06,940
S5: I remember the first time I read that I was

392
00:22:06,940 --> 00:22:08,580
S5: a new Christian and I'm like, oh.

393
00:22:09,100 --> 00:22:10,420
S3: Oh, let's not do that.

394
00:22:10,460 --> 00:22:13,860
S5: It was just it just struck me. It was again, there, personal.

395
00:22:13,859 --> 00:22:16,180
S5: And it just really struck me. And being lukewarm and

396
00:22:16,180 --> 00:22:19,940
S5: the fact that that, you know, visual of spitting out

397
00:22:19,940 --> 00:22:23,340
S5: of your mouth and I was like, oh my goodness.

398
00:22:23,740 --> 00:22:24,260
S5: You know.

399
00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:27,270
S3: Quick, quick exegetical thought on that. That has nothing to

400
00:22:27,270 --> 00:22:30,790
S3: do with loss of salvation. It's a dramatic way. Jesus

401
00:22:30,790 --> 00:22:36,470
S3: is describing what lukewarm. No one likes lukewarm water. No one?

402
00:22:36,510 --> 00:22:37,510
S5: No, exactly.

403
00:22:37,550 --> 00:22:41,590
S3: Nobody likes lukewarm water because lukewarm is neither cold nor hot.

404
00:22:41,830 --> 00:22:44,909
S3: Well hold it. Jesus said that. Why am I restating it?

405
00:22:44,950 --> 00:22:48,030
S3: It's neither cold nor hot. It's just kind of blue.

406
00:22:48,590 --> 00:22:52,030
S3: And Jesus said, when your life becomes like tap water.

407
00:22:52,270 --> 00:22:56,350
S3: And the interesting thing about Laodicea is that the aqueducts

408
00:22:56,350 --> 00:22:59,830
S3: that carried water to the city. What the what the

409
00:22:59,869 --> 00:23:02,830
S3: folks would have dipped out for water was neither hot

410
00:23:02,830 --> 00:23:05,030
S3: nor cold. It was lukewarm. And he's like, you're like

411
00:23:05,070 --> 00:23:07,790
S3: tap water, people. I'm going to spit you out of

412
00:23:07,790 --> 00:23:10,110
S3: my mouth. Yeah. You're not loss of salvation. It's just

413
00:23:10,109 --> 00:23:11,950
S3: like disgust. It's like, come on.

414
00:23:11,990 --> 00:23:16,230
S5: Yeah. And my heart just broke and I'm like, I'm. Ooh, I'm.

415
00:23:16,550 --> 00:23:18,710
S5: You know, you know.

416
00:23:18,910 --> 00:23:19,910
S3: Why am I laughing so.

417
00:23:19,910 --> 00:23:23,709
S5: Much that Luke warm water. You know, I'm like, whoa,

418
00:23:23,930 --> 00:23:27,850
S5: Get it together. Okay. Yeah. Go. Revelation.

419
00:23:28,210 --> 00:23:33,169
S3: What's your latest? Oh, no. Scripture. Alice is one of

420
00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:35,330
S3: the horsemen. Oh, no.

421
00:23:35,850 --> 00:23:38,330
S1: No, I'm trying to find the one that I highlighted

422
00:23:38,330 --> 00:23:41,489
S1: most recently, but it was just talking about how, you know,

423
00:23:41,530 --> 00:23:43,850
S1: when you read about the anger of the Lord and

424
00:23:43,850 --> 00:23:46,690
S1: the wrath of God. Yeah. And it talked about, like

425
00:23:46,730 --> 00:23:52,250
S1: all gladness and joy being removed and having this picture of, oh, boy,

426
00:23:52,290 --> 00:23:56,210
S1: like a world where there was no gladness and no joy. And,

427
00:23:56,250 --> 00:23:57,970
S1: I mean, I'd have to look it up to build

428
00:23:57,970 --> 00:24:01,210
S1: out the context for understanding that. But the the picture

429
00:24:01,210 --> 00:24:02,930
S1: of that was terrifying.

430
00:24:03,450 --> 00:24:06,090
S3: Okay, guys, you need to know something about Ali. There's

431
00:24:06,290 --> 00:24:10,330
S3: the two word phrase that she uses most when anything's happening,

432
00:24:10,330 --> 00:24:12,369
S3: when I say something crazy, or when she finds a

433
00:24:12,369 --> 00:24:16,930
S3: scripture passage. Oh, boy, oh, boy.

434
00:24:17,810 --> 00:24:21,570
S1: That's it. Oh, boy. So that one definitely gave me pause.

435
00:24:21,609 --> 00:24:23,060
S1: And this was in the last week.

436
00:24:23,460 --> 00:24:28,140
S2: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.

437
00:24:28,420 --> 00:24:32,219
S2: Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew

438
00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:33,540
S2: on Moody Radio.

439
00:24:33,580 --> 00:24:38,859
S3: Yeah, man. I don't know why. Can't stop laughing this morning.

440
00:24:39,420 --> 00:24:44,820
S3: Oh my goodness. What's your latest? Oh, no. Scripture going.

441
00:24:44,859 --> 00:24:47,900
S3: The phone lines. Noah, Mabel's Florida first time caller. What

442
00:24:47,900 --> 00:24:48,859
S3: do you say, my man?

443
00:24:49,060 --> 00:24:51,980
S8: Hey, how's it going, guys? Uh, yeah. The scripture that

444
00:24:51,980 --> 00:24:54,139
S8: pops out to me is, uh, I think it's Hebrews

445
00:24:54,140 --> 00:24:57,580
S8: 1026 where it says, if we can continue to sin

446
00:24:57,580 --> 00:24:59,660
S8: after receiving knowledge of the truth, there remains no more

447
00:24:59,660 --> 00:25:02,659
S8: sacrifice for our sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment

448
00:25:02,859 --> 00:25:05,020
S8: that needs to be taken in context. But if you

449
00:25:05,020 --> 00:25:08,100
S8: read it at face value, it'll send your heart into

450
00:25:08,540 --> 00:25:10,620
S8: a scary place. And it definitely did for me.

451
00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:15,460
S3: Yeah. And that's that's the writer of Hebrews Challenge. Uh,

452
00:25:15,820 --> 00:25:19,100
S3: the bottom line with that is don't keep on sinning.

453
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:23,600
S3: He died. Don't don't crucify Christ anew. That's a broader

454
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,480
S3: context there, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not mistaken. So

455
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:31,119
S3: good call. Noah. You open that. Up you go. Oh, no.

456
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,080
S3: How great is that, Noah? That's the Spirit of God working, bro.

457
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,639
S8: Absolutely. That conviction is powerful. And it did absolutely change

458
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,639
S8: my life. You know, it set me free from a

459
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,640
S8: struggle that I had since my beginning of my walk

460
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,280
S8: with the Lord. And, uh, he has set me free

461
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,600
S8: in amazing ways through those scriptures and other ones. You know,

462
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,159
S8: just reading the word, it purifies your your heart and mind.

463
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:53,719
S8: And I thank you.

464
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:59,359
S3: Boom boom, brother, you nailed it. Way to go. Uh, Ali,

465
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:00,719
S3: let's go back to the phone lines. Who do we have?

466
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,399
S1: Let's go to Kevin from Earlville, Illinois. Kevin? What's that? Oh, no.

467
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,000
S1: Scripture passage for you.

468
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:11,119
S9: Good morning. Crew. Uh, mine was Matthew 28, 19 and 20,

469
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,840
S9: where it says going to the world, baptizing them in

470
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,360
S9: the name of the father, son, and the Holy Spirit.

471
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,810
S9: And the next part was. And teaching them to obey.

472
00:26:20,410 --> 00:26:23,770
S9: I didn't realize that part of it. I skipped over

473
00:26:23,770 --> 00:26:26,369
S9: that for years, and then realizing that teaching them to

474
00:26:26,369 --> 00:26:29,209
S9: obey would be my witness at work, teaching them to

475
00:26:29,530 --> 00:26:32,250
S9: obey would be my witness as a husband or a father.

476
00:26:33,210 --> 00:26:36,290
S9: You know, it really got my heart. Now I look

477
00:26:36,330 --> 00:26:38,449
S9: at people in a different manner now. Teaching them to

478
00:26:38,450 --> 00:26:40,570
S9: obey means you don't have a fight with the flesh.

479
00:26:40,609 --> 00:26:42,530
S9: You have a fight with the enemy inside.

480
00:26:43,450 --> 00:26:47,730
S3: That's a great word, Kevin, because teaching to obey. There's

481
00:26:47,730 --> 00:26:50,450
S3: sometimes when you open a book, and then there's sometimes

482
00:26:50,450 --> 00:26:52,810
S3: when you just walk around and be you. And the

483
00:26:52,810 --> 00:26:58,330
S3: question is, how is being you going? That's great. Kevin. Boom, brother. Oh, wow.

484
00:26:58,730 --> 00:27:03,130
S3: Asking you what your latest oh, no Scripture passage that

485
00:27:03,130 --> 00:27:06,090
S3: you've read, Michael in Chicago. What do you say?

486
00:27:07,730 --> 00:27:11,290
S10: Uh, Romans 12 three do not think more highly of

487
00:27:11,290 --> 00:27:13,810
S10: yourselves that that kind of beat me up.

488
00:27:14,530 --> 00:27:15,570
S5: Oh, that's a good.

489
00:27:15,570 --> 00:27:17,610
S10: One. I just, I just, you know, I would let

490
00:27:17,710 --> 00:27:19,949
S10: God's gifts get away from me. And then I'm thinking

491
00:27:19,950 --> 00:27:22,310
S10: it's me. And I had a desire to, you know,

492
00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:24,870
S10: always either speak up or, you know, something like that.

493
00:27:24,869 --> 00:27:27,270
S10: And it gave the impression of arrogance and stuff like that.

494
00:27:27,270 --> 00:27:30,710
S10: And so God has really been dealing with me with

495
00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:34,790
S10: that in this season. And, um, and so I'm just working,

496
00:27:34,830 --> 00:27:37,510
S10: working my way through, I have to remind myself, nope.

497
00:27:37,510 --> 00:27:39,190
S10: Shut up. You don't have to be the first one

498
00:27:39,190 --> 00:27:42,550
S10: to speak. Be quiet. Whether it's my wife, whether it's

499
00:27:42,590 --> 00:27:44,709
S10: at work, whether it's with my friends, that's. That's where

500
00:27:44,710 --> 00:27:45,230
S10: I'm at.

501
00:27:45,470 --> 00:27:48,830
S3: Oh, that's so cool. What's wild about that, Michael, is

502
00:27:48,830 --> 00:27:52,790
S3: that it's kind of a whamo. Because in verse one

503
00:27:52,790 --> 00:27:56,109
S3: and two, loose translation here, it's a call to lay

504
00:27:56,109 --> 00:28:00,070
S3: down our lives as a living sacrifice, as an act

505
00:28:00,070 --> 00:28:04,310
S3: of worship. That's our act of worship. So the tendency

506
00:28:04,310 --> 00:28:06,270
S3: could go, yes, God, I'm laying down my life as

507
00:28:06,270 --> 00:28:08,630
S3: a living sacrifice. And then he comes in right there

508
00:28:08,630 --> 00:28:10,830
S3: with verse three. And, oh, by the way, do not

509
00:28:10,830 --> 00:28:14,750
S3: think more highly of yourself than you ought. So even

510
00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:19,040
S3: as you're bowing, even as you're bowing low. Michael. Boom! Brother.

511
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,800
S3: Way to go. Uh, let's keep it cooking here, Rick.

512
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,800
S3: First time caller in Chicago. What's your. Oh, no. Scripture.

513
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:34,400
S11: Our minds were, uh, in Timothy when he's talking about husband,

514
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:40,040
S11: how you treat your wife, and when she said, when

515
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:45,760
S11: I read that, your prayers won't be answered. After that,

516
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:46,320
S11: I was.

517
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,000
S3: I'll tell you what. You give your wife a foot

518
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:53,200
S3: rub that night, man.

519
00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:01,560
S11: Start to treat my wife differently. I was a yes, yes,

520
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:03,440
S11: yes man after that.

521
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,200
S3: And I know I hear your heart on that one. Rick.

522
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,840
S3: I love you, man. That is a great it's a

523
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,959
S3: great one. That's a big one. I mean, I I've

524
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,280
S3: had many a men come into my office as a

525
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,740
S3: pastor or have him for a cup of coffee. And,

526
00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:19,700
S3: you know, I'm hearing their story and they're saying, pastor,

527
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:21,980
S3: I feel like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.

528
00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:26,300
S3: And I've had probably two dozen times or more as

529
00:29:26,300 --> 00:29:29,420
S3: a pastor, I've sat across the table for someone and go, brother,

530
00:29:29,820 --> 00:29:33,140
S3: that's because they are bouncing off the ceiling and they

531
00:29:33,140 --> 00:29:35,380
S3: look at me like deer in the headlights. Like, what

532
00:29:35,380 --> 00:29:38,780
S3: do you mean? And I take him to first first Timothy.

533
00:29:39,140 --> 00:29:42,500
S3: And God, if you don't live with your wives in

534
00:29:42,500 --> 00:29:47,860
S3: an understanding way, gentlemen, you are flapping your gums. But

535
00:29:47,860 --> 00:29:55,020
S3: God lovingly will resist your prayers. Wow. That'll shake you up.

536
00:29:56,300 --> 00:29:59,660
S1: My goodness is that first Peter three seven is that husbands?

537
00:29:59,660 --> 00:30:01,340
S1: In the same way, be considerate as you live with

538
00:30:01,340 --> 00:30:04,459
S1: your wives and treat them as the weaker. Is that

539
00:30:04,460 --> 00:30:05,900
S1: the one we're talking about? First Peter three.

540
00:30:05,940 --> 00:30:07,860
S3: Seven. Uh, no. Let me find the. Is there a

541
00:30:07,860 --> 00:30:10,260
S3: different one? Yeah. Let me find the broader context for

542
00:30:10,300 --> 00:30:12,980
S3: that one. Grab, grab a caller and I'll keep cooking here.

543
00:30:13,110 --> 00:30:17,110
S1: Okay, let's go to Pamela. First time caller from Central Massachusetts.

544
00:30:17,150 --> 00:30:19,270
S1: What do you say? What's that verse for you?

545
00:30:20,790 --> 00:30:27,950
S12: Hi. It's, um, Proverbs 2430 through 34. And the main

546
00:30:27,950 --> 00:30:30,150
S12: part where he says, A little sleep, a little slumber,

547
00:30:30,190 --> 00:30:33,030
S12: a little closer to rest, and poverty will come upon

548
00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:36,070
S12: you like a robber. And I am like the queen

549
00:30:36,110 --> 00:30:40,150
S12: of hidden snooze button in the morning. So it's like

550
00:30:40,310 --> 00:30:42,790
S12: I just need to get up and get going and

551
00:30:42,790 --> 00:30:47,030
S12: stop hitting snooze. And so this is the first morning

552
00:30:47,030 --> 00:30:50,030
S12: I'm actually trying it without going back to bed until

553
00:30:50,030 --> 00:30:52,070
S12: like 630 or 7.

554
00:30:52,110 --> 00:30:52,750
S1: Beautiful.

555
00:30:53,110 --> 00:30:55,390
S5: Beautiful. You're getting.

556
00:30:56,990 --> 00:30:57,390
S3: A little.

557
00:30:57,390 --> 00:30:57,910
S5: Sleep.

558
00:30:58,070 --> 00:30:58,990
S3: A little slumber.

559
00:30:59,030 --> 00:30:59,430
S5: A little.

560
00:30:59,430 --> 00:31:00,510
S1: Folding of the hands.

561
00:31:00,830 --> 00:31:07,510
S3: And soon despair will fall upon you. Um. That is outstanding. Pamela. Boom! Sister.

562
00:31:07,870 --> 00:31:09,150
S3: What state is she in?

563
00:31:09,870 --> 00:31:10,550
S4: Massachusetts.

564
00:31:10,590 --> 00:31:11,350
S1: Massachusetts.

565
00:31:11,490 --> 00:31:15,170
S3: Massachusetts. Way to go. How? Ask Pamela how she listens

566
00:31:15,170 --> 00:31:17,209
S3: to us. Is that on the app? Pamela?

567
00:31:17,930 --> 00:31:21,730
S12: Um, yeah, on the app. And it's, um, the Florida

568
00:31:21,730 --> 00:31:24,290
S12: radio station. For some reason, that one popped up.

569
00:31:24,330 --> 00:31:26,810
S3: That's awesome. That's awesome. That's the one that popped up. Great.

570
00:31:27,490 --> 00:31:30,210
S3: Way to go. So that's funny. We're here in Chicago.

571
00:31:30,610 --> 00:31:33,170
S3: It's piping down to Florida. And she's opening an app

572
00:31:33,170 --> 00:31:34,250
S3: in Massachusetts.

573
00:31:34,290 --> 00:31:37,170
S5: What a great family. Love the kingdom of God, right?

574
00:31:38,410 --> 00:31:41,090
S3: Yeah, I think you said it right, Ellie. I just

575
00:31:41,090 --> 00:31:44,290
S3: had to be sure. First. Peter three seven. Likewise, husbands,

576
00:31:44,570 --> 00:31:47,810
S3: love your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to

577
00:31:47,850 --> 00:31:50,410
S3: the woman as a weaker vessel, since they do, since

578
00:31:50,410 --> 00:31:52,410
S3: they are heirs of you with the grace of life,

579
00:31:52,410 --> 00:31:57,770
S3: so that your prayers may not be hindered. You don't

580
00:31:57,770 --> 00:32:02,250
S3: want God hindering your prayers, man. You just don't want

581
00:32:02,250 --> 00:32:05,050
S3: that young thunder. You agree?

582
00:32:05,450 --> 00:32:08,010
S4: I would agree when I talk to God, I'd like

583
00:32:08,010 --> 00:32:12,270
S4: it to make it to him. Uh, And loving your

584
00:32:12,270 --> 00:32:15,670
S4: wife and wives. Loving your husbands. It's it's a big

585
00:32:15,670 --> 00:32:20,590
S4: way that God wants us to to to live so

586
00:32:20,590 --> 00:32:22,710
S4: that we can listen. And I like what you said, Carl.

587
00:32:22,750 --> 00:32:28,310
S4: He he lovingly doesn't listen to those prayers because he

588
00:32:28,310 --> 00:32:31,550
S4: wants us to love the one that we've made a

589
00:32:31,550 --> 00:32:33,990
S4: commitment to and partnered up with. I think that's a

590
00:32:33,990 --> 00:32:35,030
S4: really awesome thing.

591
00:32:35,390 --> 00:32:41,750
S3: Uh, listen, our God is the most functional father. Which

592
00:32:41,750 --> 00:32:48,790
S3: means kids growing up need discipline. Discipline is good. If

593
00:32:48,830 --> 00:32:52,430
S3: you've ever raised a kid and you didn't discipline them,

594
00:32:52,630 --> 00:32:57,790
S3: you know something? This kid turns into a monster. Yeah,

595
00:32:57,790 --> 00:33:01,510
S3: but if we discipline them, better chance they're going to

596
00:33:01,510 --> 00:33:03,310
S3: get their walk squared away in life.

597
00:33:03,310 --> 00:33:06,230
S4: And think about it this way. I mean, if I wasn't,

598
00:33:06,230 --> 00:33:09,040
S4: if I was not treating my wife well, my father

599
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,800
S4: in law would not be very happy with me. God

600
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:16,360
S4: is my father, but he's my wife's father too. And

601
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,440
S4: he cares about her. And he cares about her being

602
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:20,920
S4: loved and taken care of properly. And he's going to

603
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:21,960
S4: make sure that happens.

604
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,200
S3: Yeah, man, this is good. We need to do a

605
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:32,640
S3: whole day on oh no scriptures. I'm sorry man. I'm

606
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:34,880
S3: in a. Karl thinks it's funny mode today.

607
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:35,680
S1: I see that.

608
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,680
S3: At the cost of everyone else. I'm laughing at their conviction.

609
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,239
S3: Not in a bad way. Not in a derisive way.

610
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,840
S3: I just get a kick out of it because. And

611
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,640
S3: here's what's so encouraging. You said it right. Super day.

612
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,600
S3: We got such sweet people from all over the world

613
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,640
S3: calling in here. How encouraging is this?

614
00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:58,880
S4: Conviction is universal in the body of Christ, and it's

615
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:00,080
S4: awesome that we can share it.

616
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:04,400
S5: As a family. I know I it's very emotional, like

617
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,500
S5: it makes your heart swell, you know, Just a taste

618
00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:08,860
S5: of the kingdom to come. Yeah.

619
00:34:08,900 --> 00:34:12,620
S3: It's so good. Okay. Well, surprise! I've got a oh,

620
00:34:12,820 --> 00:34:15,540
S3: no passage of scripture we're going to camp out on

621
00:34:15,540 --> 00:34:16,820
S3: coming up here in a little bit.

622
00:34:16,820 --> 00:34:17,380
S1: Okay?

623
00:34:17,660 --> 00:34:18,220
S4: Oh, no.

624
00:34:18,620 --> 00:34:19,020
S5: Okay.

625
00:34:19,260 --> 00:34:24,980
S3: I promise you, this will make 99.9% of you go. Oh, no,

626
00:34:26,020 --> 00:34:29,060
S3: but stick around. It's going to be a great time

627
00:34:29,060 --> 00:34:35,100
S3: this morning. This is David Crowder. It's called still. Good

628
00:34:35,100 --> 00:34:37,980
S3: morning boom crew. We love you. Busting open the word

629
00:34:37,980 --> 00:34:42,260
S3: of God and Spirit of God busting into our hearts

630
00:34:42,260 --> 00:34:44,300
S3: and changing us right here.

631
00:34:44,780 --> 00:34:47,500
S2: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.

632
00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:50,939
S2: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

633
00:34:50,980 --> 00:34:54,460
S3: Scotland crew talking all week about abundance out of scarcity.

634
00:34:54,460 --> 00:34:57,500
S3: And I want to tackle a quick one here for you. Uh,

635
00:34:57,500 --> 00:35:01,020
S3: here's the premise of Scripture, and I just want to

636
00:35:01,060 --> 00:35:04,700
S3: jump through this microphone into your car, into your home,

637
00:35:04,739 --> 00:35:07,990
S3: onto your walking path with you right now, there is

638
00:35:07,989 --> 00:35:12,390
S3: a great danger that the American Dream gets layered over

639
00:35:12,430 --> 00:35:15,109
S3: the vision that God has for our life. And what

640
00:35:15,110 --> 00:35:19,230
S3: this what this causes is a heart of utter dependence

641
00:35:19,230 --> 00:35:21,310
S3: on God for belief. Blessed are the poor in spirit,

642
00:35:21,310 --> 00:35:23,509
S3: for theirs is the kingdom of God. We're not fit

643
00:35:23,510 --> 00:35:26,790
S3: for the kingdom of God until we're spiritually bankrupt and

644
00:35:26,790 --> 00:35:29,509
S3: know it. But then we get up in our own

645
00:35:29,510 --> 00:35:32,029
S3: strength thinking, man, Carl, I gotta do this. And I

646
00:35:32,070 --> 00:35:33,950
S3: battle with this all the time. This is one of

647
00:35:33,950 --> 00:35:37,709
S3: the biggest gospel truths that we're going to fight in

648
00:35:37,710 --> 00:35:41,750
S3: the Western faith. Absence of persecution, a lot of materialism.

649
00:35:42,230 --> 00:35:48,150
S3: But here's here's my premise. We have we have made

650
00:35:48,150 --> 00:35:51,710
S3: a commodity out of our strength. When God makes a

651
00:35:51,710 --> 00:35:56,750
S3: commodity out of our weakness, God loves scarcity. You might say, well,

652
00:35:56,750 --> 00:35:59,230
S3: if he loves scarcity, then he loves me. Good. Glad

653
00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:05,010
S3: you're feeling that. Because in Second Corinthians chapter 12. What

654
00:36:05,010 --> 00:36:07,490
S3: does Paul say? He says, I appeal to God three

655
00:36:07,489 --> 00:36:09,410
S3: times for this thorn in the flesh. Let's not get

656
00:36:09,410 --> 00:36:12,010
S3: into what it is. It's probably eyesight. But here's the issue.

657
00:36:12,330 --> 00:36:16,770
S3: He said, God said to him, responded, my grace is

658
00:36:16,770 --> 00:36:21,730
S3: sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

659
00:36:22,890 --> 00:36:24,969
S3: So he goes on to celebrate. I don't have it

660
00:36:24,969 --> 00:36:28,850
S3: open right now, but he goes on to celebrate calamity, persecution,

661
00:36:28,850 --> 00:36:35,609
S3: all this stuff. Why? Because in our weakness, he is strong.

662
00:36:36,410 --> 00:36:43,649
S3: So scarcity is a commodity. And some of you say, well,

663
00:36:43,650 --> 00:36:45,690
S3: I don't have much faith. I don't have much belief,

664
00:36:45,690 --> 00:36:48,850
S3: I don't have, you know, we want to grow in belief.

665
00:36:48,850 --> 00:36:52,330
S3: But hold on a second here. Jesus said, the faith

666
00:36:52,330 --> 00:36:55,250
S3: of a mustard seed can move a mountain. And you say, well, Carl,

667
00:36:55,250 --> 00:36:57,890
S3: didn't he say, man, you have too little faith? Yeah,

668
00:36:57,890 --> 00:37:01,010
S3: I believe it's an absolute turn of phrase, because what's

669
00:37:01,010 --> 00:37:03,899
S3: expanded out of the story in Matthew 17 that we've

670
00:37:03,900 --> 00:37:07,900
S3: been covering today is that you see the broadened story

671
00:37:07,900 --> 00:37:11,140
S3: in Mark nine, and the broadened story says, hey, these

672
00:37:11,140 --> 00:37:15,020
S3: only come out through prayer and fasting. What Jesus was

673
00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:18,260
S3: saying is that it's not the amount of your faith,

674
00:37:18,300 --> 00:37:21,580
S3: it's the object of your faith. And here's my premise

675
00:37:21,860 --> 00:37:24,900
S3: the only way you take your next step with Jesus,

676
00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:29,740
S3: which is what we want for you here, is by who?

677
00:37:29,780 --> 00:37:33,780
S3: How do I describe this guys? It's by not only

678
00:37:33,780 --> 00:37:38,660
S3: coming to the end of yourself, but staying there when

679
00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:42,700
S3: you go. Titus 211 and 12. The grace of God

680
00:37:43,100 --> 00:37:47,620
S3: saved us and trains us to renounce ungodliness, worldly passions,

681
00:37:47,620 --> 00:37:50,700
S3: and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this

682
00:37:50,700 --> 00:37:55,300
S3: present age. That is powerhouse. What is it? It's God's grace.

683
00:37:55,300 --> 00:37:59,780
S3: It's not your faith. It's not your strength. It's not

684
00:37:59,780 --> 00:38:05,719
S3: your money. It's not your intellect. It is utter dependence

685
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:07,640
S3: on God that's going to get us there. Now I'm

686
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:09,680
S3: fired up because we got a guy from across the

687
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:11,520
S3: pond coming in here, and I can't wait to talk

688
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,160
S3: to him about this. God is using this guy mightily.

689
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:16,319
S3: And there's some of you that might feel weak in

690
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:19,360
S3: your knees about your faith. By the time we're done,

691
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,080
S3: you're going to be standing on the rock. Hang on.

692
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:27,120
S3: Justin Brierley. Freelance writer, speaker, broadcaster in the UK is

693
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:28,480
S3: going to be with me coming up.

694
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,960
S2: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then

695
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,360
S2: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl

696
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:38,080
S2: and crew on Moody Radio.

697
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,640
S3: It's Carl and crew. You know, the beautiful thing about

698
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,440
S3: God is that he says, come as you are. Experience me,

699
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:48,360
S3: overcome what seems impossible, and live as you never imagined.

700
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:51,680
S3: And you know what? That has nothing to do with us.

701
00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:55,680
S3: It's all him. Justin Brierley, good to have you with

702
00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,090
S3: me this morning. Isn't mustard seed faith and An encouraging thing.

703
00:39:00,130 --> 00:39:01,969
S3: Not a discouraging thing, Justin.

704
00:39:02,410 --> 00:39:06,529
S13: Absolutely. It's absolutely an encouraging thing. It helps to remind

705
00:39:06,530 --> 00:39:11,730
S13: us that we're human, okay? We're mortal, we're fragile. We're

706
00:39:11,730 --> 00:39:14,890
S13: not God. But actually God in his grace uses us

707
00:39:14,930 --> 00:39:18,450
S13: in spite of all our flaws, of all our shortcomings.

708
00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:22,290
S13: It is the fact that God will use even us, um,

709
00:39:22,330 --> 00:39:24,570
S13: to to achieve extraordinary things.

710
00:39:24,810 --> 00:39:27,529
S3: It's amazing. Yeah. What is it? Let's just linger here

711
00:39:27,530 --> 00:39:30,250
S3: for a second. Justin. We got to get into belief

712
00:39:30,250 --> 00:39:33,730
S3: and even apologetics and what you're up to. But let's

713
00:39:33,770 --> 00:39:36,969
S3: let's just stay here. Is it the result of a

714
00:39:37,010 --> 00:39:39,609
S3: kind of a Western tweak on the real gospel, which

715
00:39:39,650 --> 00:39:41,609
S3: is when we're at the end of ourselves, that's when

716
00:39:41,610 --> 00:39:45,130
S3: God is at his best that we've superimposed almost the

717
00:39:45,130 --> 00:39:48,810
S3: American dream or the UK dream over the gospel. And

718
00:39:48,810 --> 00:39:54,170
S3: it really complicates things, because there's nothing like humility and

719
00:39:54,170 --> 00:39:58,110
S3: utter clinging to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ just

720
00:39:58,110 --> 00:39:59,230
S3: in your thought on that?

721
00:39:59,590 --> 00:40:02,509
S13: Yeah, I think that is a really good point, actually,

722
00:40:02,550 --> 00:40:06,710
S13: that we often turn the gospel into something that is

723
00:40:06,710 --> 00:40:10,470
S13: actually not that, that that somehow, you know, if we're believers,

724
00:40:10,510 --> 00:40:13,069
S13: we're going to have some kind of level of, of

725
00:40:13,070 --> 00:40:16,270
S13: wealth or prosperity or success. You know that all our

726
00:40:16,270 --> 00:40:19,390
S13: relationships are going to go brilliantly, that our work career

727
00:40:19,390 --> 00:40:22,109
S13: is going to be fantastic. And when that doesn't work out,

728
00:40:22,110 --> 00:40:23,870
S13: a lot of people, I think, end up feeling like,

729
00:40:23,910 --> 00:40:26,950
S13: oh my goodness, what? You know, the the bill I

730
00:40:26,950 --> 00:40:29,710
S13: was sold didn't turn out to be real. And and

731
00:40:29,710 --> 00:40:33,270
S13: that can actually, you know, be a source of, of real, uh,

732
00:40:33,830 --> 00:40:36,709
S13: faith killer for a lot of people. But actually, you know,

733
00:40:36,750 --> 00:40:38,870
S13: Jesus did not promise any of those things for those

734
00:40:38,870 --> 00:40:41,310
S13: who follow him. On the contrary, he said, you're probably

735
00:40:41,310 --> 00:40:44,630
S13: going to actually end up, you know, facing more conflict,

736
00:40:44,630 --> 00:40:47,189
S13: difficulty very often because of the faith you have in me.

737
00:40:47,190 --> 00:40:50,750
S13: But what I give you in return is far better

738
00:40:50,750 --> 00:40:53,430
S13: than any of those material things. And and so, yeah,

739
00:40:53,430 --> 00:40:56,600
S13: I absolutely think we can easily get the The Christian

740
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,440
S13: life confused with the American dream or the Western dream

741
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,040
S13: or whatever. And what we really need is Jesus. Not

742
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:03,400
S13: not any of those other things.

743
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:07,400
S3: I love it. Justin, you've done decades now of debating

744
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,759
S3: and conversations with skeptics and atheists, and I know I'm

745
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:12,520
S3: going to spike a book that you have out that

746
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,840
S3: I'm so excited to get my hands on. But what

747
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,960
S3: have you learned? And a really vulnerable question here for you.

748
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,480
S3: Have you ever been in a debate when it put

749
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:26,080
S3: you on tilt and like, hmm, I guess it would

750
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:30,200
S3: cause you to think more deeply about the opposing view.

751
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:31,440
S3: What do you say, Justin?

752
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,600
S13: Oh, yeah. I've been in that situation many times, Carl. Um,

753
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:36,719
S13: so especially in the early days of when I was

754
00:41:36,719 --> 00:41:40,280
S13: hosting conversations between Christians and atheists, and perhaps I was

755
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:42,960
S13: exploring some of these issues for the first time myself.

756
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,960
S13: And I would hear a very cogent nonbeliever making the

757
00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:48,640
S13: case against God or Christianity or the Bible. And I

758
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:51,960
S13: would think, my goodness, how on earth do we answer that? Uh,

759
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,000
S13: maybe I you know, I might have read that person's

760
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,819
S13: book in advance of the conversation and be like head scratching.

761
00:41:57,940 --> 00:41:59,779
S13: I had a couple of sleepless nights. I'll be honest

762
00:41:59,780 --> 00:42:02,540
S13: with you, Carl. I thought, my goodness, how, how, how

763
00:42:02,700 --> 00:42:05,580
S13: do how do you answer this stuff? Of course, what

764
00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:08,259
S13: I always found was there are people, you know who

765
00:42:08,300 --> 00:42:09,980
S13: have been around a lot longer than I have, who

766
00:42:10,020 --> 00:42:13,299
S13: have looked at these questions and provided some really good answers.

767
00:42:13,540 --> 00:42:15,660
S13: And that's in a sense, we need to have the

768
00:42:15,660 --> 00:42:18,740
S13: humility to realize there's people who have gone before us,

769
00:42:18,739 --> 00:42:22,020
S13: who have have trod this ground before. And and of course,

770
00:42:22,020 --> 00:42:24,420
S13: it's not that there are simple answers to these questions,

771
00:42:24,420 --> 00:42:26,940
S13: but actually, when I've looked into it and when I've

772
00:42:26,980 --> 00:42:29,700
S13: brought on the right person opposite that skeptic, I've found

773
00:42:29,700 --> 00:42:33,580
S13: there's always two sides to every story. And actually sometimes it's,

774
00:42:33,580 --> 00:42:37,339
S13: it's about, yeah, sometimes reevaluating. You know, perhaps you do

775
00:42:37,340 --> 00:42:39,460
S13: need to, to, to think and to, to move along

776
00:42:39,500 --> 00:42:41,540
S13: a bit in your thinking. But I always find that

777
00:42:41,540 --> 00:42:45,180
S13: I arrive at a deeper, more secure place in Christ than,

778
00:42:45,180 --> 00:42:47,940
S13: than what I had before. And that's that's the extraordinary

779
00:42:47,940 --> 00:42:48,980
S13: thing about it. You know.

780
00:42:49,219 --> 00:42:52,899
S3: I was intrigued with, um, Charlie Kirk was was on

781
00:42:53,030 --> 00:42:56,910
S3: with a guy named Bill Maher. And it was fascinating

782
00:42:56,910 --> 00:42:59,710
S3: because Bill Maher showed great respect to Charlie, but he

783
00:42:59,710 --> 00:43:03,189
S3: was also he eviscerated him on the fact that he said, look,

784
00:43:03,230 --> 00:43:07,710
S3: your Bible is filled with murder and slavery and and

785
00:43:07,710 --> 00:43:10,910
S3: what kind of I mean, he just derided the God

786
00:43:10,910 --> 00:43:16,150
S3: of the scriptures. And I think it's fair for people

787
00:43:16,150 --> 00:43:18,750
S3: to look at the pain and suffering in this world

788
00:43:18,750 --> 00:43:22,430
S3: and say, Where is God? How do you answer that, Justin?

789
00:43:22,750 --> 00:43:24,950
S13: Well, there's kind of two, two questions there. There's there's

790
00:43:24,950 --> 00:43:26,390
S13: the question of what we do with some of those

791
00:43:26,390 --> 00:43:29,270
S13: difficult parts of the Bible, which I guess is where, where,

792
00:43:29,270 --> 00:43:31,790
S13: where Bill Maher was going with Charlie Kirk. And then

793
00:43:31,790 --> 00:43:34,149
S13: there's the bigger question of the suffering we all encounter

794
00:43:34,310 --> 00:43:36,110
S13: in this world. I mean, on the on the Bible front,

795
00:43:36,110 --> 00:43:37,469
S13: I'd say, you know, and I watched a little bit

796
00:43:37,469 --> 00:43:40,710
S13: of that interview myself. Um, the reality is, whatever you make,

797
00:43:40,750 --> 00:43:43,790
S13: you know, however you come to interpret those, those passages

798
00:43:43,790 --> 00:43:46,390
S13: in the Old Testament that Bill Maher probably had in mind.

799
00:43:46,430 --> 00:43:49,510
S13: The reality is, the Bible, more than any other document

800
00:43:49,510 --> 00:43:53,049
S13: in the world, has shaped the way we think and

801
00:43:53,050 --> 00:43:57,130
S13: act in this world. It has been the foundation unequivocally

802
00:43:57,130 --> 00:44:01,250
S13: of Western culture, the very Western culture that Bill Maher himself, uh,

803
00:44:01,290 --> 00:44:04,770
S13: values and appreciates. And in a very ironic way, when

804
00:44:04,770 --> 00:44:07,529
S13: an atheist like Bill Maher critiques the Bible, he's doing

805
00:44:07,530 --> 00:44:11,610
S13: it from a very Christian perspective. Ironically, his whole critique

806
00:44:11,610 --> 00:44:15,410
S13: of what he objects to has come from the Christian

807
00:44:15,410 --> 00:44:18,410
S13: heritage that he has inherited. Uh, you know, so I think,

808
00:44:18,410 --> 00:44:21,410
S13: I think it's important to recognize that the Bible, whatever

809
00:44:21,410 --> 00:44:23,690
S13: you make of it, whether you know you approve or

810
00:44:23,690 --> 00:44:26,410
S13: not of various parts of it, it has completely shaped

811
00:44:26,410 --> 00:44:28,970
S13: our culture and given you all the good things. Bill Maher,

812
00:44:29,210 --> 00:44:31,770
S13: you know, his ability to have the free speech that

813
00:44:31,770 --> 00:44:34,690
S13: both he and Charlie Kirk valued comes because of the

814
00:44:34,690 --> 00:44:38,210
S13: Christian witness to to the importance of that down the ages. Anyway,

815
00:44:38,250 --> 00:44:41,330
S13: that's that's one thing to say. Um, the bigger question

816
00:44:41,330 --> 00:44:43,850
S13: of suffering, obviously it's a huge one. Um, in my

817
00:44:43,890 --> 00:44:45,930
S13: in my book, Why I'm Still a Christian, I give

818
00:44:45,930 --> 00:44:48,129
S13: a chapter to this and there are no easy answers,

819
00:44:48,330 --> 00:44:51,940
S13: but I would say I'd rather live with the questions

820
00:44:51,940 --> 00:44:55,739
S13: around suffering the mystery than the meaninglessness of living in

821
00:44:55,739 --> 00:44:57,540
S13: a world where there is no God and it's just

822
00:44:57,580 --> 00:45:00,259
S13: tough luck. It's just, you know, you get what you

823
00:45:00,260 --> 00:45:03,540
S13: get and there's no meaning or purpose behind any of it.

824
00:45:03,580 --> 00:45:08,300
S13: It's just random. It's just brutal. You know, nature taking

825
00:45:08,300 --> 00:45:12,180
S13: its course. I can't reconcile myself to that either. Okay.

826
00:45:12,380 --> 00:45:14,740
S13: You still have a problem of suffering if you're an atheist.

827
00:45:14,739 --> 00:45:17,939
S13: That's the point. And and so for me, I'd rather

828
00:45:17,980 --> 00:45:20,740
S13: see that there is a God who's done something about this.

829
00:45:20,780 --> 00:45:23,180
S13: It doesn't answer all of our intellectual questions, but there's

830
00:45:23,180 --> 00:45:26,500
S13: a God who stepped in, became part of this suffering world,

831
00:45:26,500 --> 00:45:29,180
S13: suffered himself, suffered all of the worse things that we

832
00:45:29,180 --> 00:45:31,180
S13: could possibly have done. And yet it happened to the

833
00:45:31,180 --> 00:45:33,980
S13: person who least deserved it. And for me, that gives

834
00:45:33,980 --> 00:45:36,060
S13: me something to hold on to, and I hope even

835
00:45:36,060 --> 00:45:37,700
S13: someone like Bill Maher might be able to see that.

836
00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:40,339
S13: That's the only thing someone going through suffering may be

837
00:45:40,380 --> 00:45:42,540
S13: able to hold on to the fact that God knows

838
00:45:42,700 --> 00:45:45,660
S13: what it is like to suffer, and he's got something

839
00:45:45,660 --> 00:45:47,060
S13: for us. At the end of that. There is a

840
00:45:47,060 --> 00:45:49,640
S13: hope in the end that sadly, I don't think Bill

841
00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:50,920
S13: Maher has in the end.

842
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:53,080
S3: Yeah. What do you see, Justin, before we take a

843
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:57,400
S3: quick break here? Do you think self-proclaimed atheists are more

844
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,560
S3: just disgruntled agnostic than they are atheists?

845
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:04,920
S13: I mean, I think there's all kinds of motivations going

846
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:08,960
S13: into someone who says that they don't believe in God. Yes. Often, ostensibly,

847
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:12,839
S13: those can be intellectual objections, but I think there's often

848
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:16,359
S13: primarily an emotional component to many of these. And it's

849
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:18,920
S13: been so interesting. You know, you mentioned Charlie Kirk. I've

850
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:22,799
S13: seen so many interestingly, atheists and agnostics saying the way

851
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,440
S13: that he spoke of his faith and and the example

852
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:27,680
S13: he set has, has made me want to look at

853
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:29,759
S13: the Bible again and go to church. I've seen so

854
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,239
S13: many stories of that coming up on my social media,

855
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:36,120
S13: and it just reminds me that sometimes it's not just

856
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,280
S13: the intellectual arguments, but it's the example we provide that

857
00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:42,759
S13: is hugely important for people. And don't give up on that,

858
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:47,690
S13: you know? Um, the I would say People are often

859
00:46:47,690 --> 00:46:51,049
S13: surprisingly open when the right circumstances come about. And I've

860
00:46:51,050 --> 00:46:55,490
S13: seen so many examples of what seemed like absolutely, you know,

861
00:46:55,530 --> 00:46:58,930
S13: dedicated atheists suddenly being opened up to the possibility of

862
00:46:58,930 --> 00:47:04,089
S13: God and faith because of someone who was a winsome person,

863
00:47:04,090 --> 00:47:06,649
S13: who was there at the time when they needed them

864
00:47:06,650 --> 00:47:10,009
S13: in an emotional crisis. So, so I would say, you know, yes,

865
00:47:10,050 --> 00:47:14,649
S13: never give up. Um, and yeah, who knows where that

866
00:47:14,650 --> 00:47:17,210
S13: atheist agnostic really is in their heart of hearts.

867
00:47:17,570 --> 00:47:20,610
S3: Justin Bradley, my guest right now coming up here, um,

868
00:47:20,610 --> 00:47:24,009
S3: I was watching a clip, Justin of way Back, John

869
00:47:24,010 --> 00:47:27,810
S3: MacArthur answering a question on the sovereignty of God in

870
00:47:27,810 --> 00:47:32,410
S3: free will. And I thought his answer was quite astonishing.

871
00:47:32,410 --> 00:47:34,129
S3: I want to give you what he said and then

872
00:47:34,170 --> 00:47:37,050
S3: have you interact with that and more with Justin Bradley.

873
00:47:37,050 --> 00:47:39,810
S3: Brand new book out Why I'm Still a Christian. After

874
00:47:39,810 --> 00:47:43,489
S3: two decades of conversations with skeptics and atheists. We're going

875
00:47:43,489 --> 00:47:45,290
S3: to have a link for that as well. Hang on.

876
00:47:45,830 --> 00:47:48,830
S2: You're listening to Carol and crew on Moody Radio.

877
00:47:48,870 --> 00:47:52,069
S3: Justin Brierley with me right now. He's from the other

878
00:47:52,070 --> 00:47:53,950
S3: side of the pond. He's a good man. Loves the

879
00:47:53,950 --> 00:47:56,310
S3: Lord deeply. He's got a new workout. Why? I'm still

880
00:47:56,310 --> 00:48:00,390
S3: a Christian after two decades of conversations with skeptics and atheists.

881
00:48:00,430 --> 00:48:02,069
S3: The reason I believe we're going to give you a

882
00:48:02,070 --> 00:48:04,670
S3: link to that in just a moment. Uh, Justin, I

883
00:48:04,670 --> 00:48:08,069
S3: want to tackle, uh, God's sovereignty and free will and

884
00:48:08,070 --> 00:48:11,270
S3: how those sometimes seem to not connect. I would just

885
00:48:11,270 --> 00:48:13,910
S3: in short, John MacArthur, who seems to have an answer

886
00:48:13,910 --> 00:48:17,109
S3: for everything when he was alive, actually came up with

887
00:48:17,110 --> 00:48:20,230
S3: nothing on that. He said that there is a realm

888
00:48:20,430 --> 00:48:24,549
S3: of questioning of God that we don't live operate in

889
00:48:24,550 --> 00:48:27,190
S3: the sphere of God, and we may not figure it

890
00:48:27,190 --> 00:48:30,029
S3: out at first blush. How do you how do you

891
00:48:30,070 --> 00:48:31,950
S3: handle that? Do you agree with that? Justin?

892
00:48:32,110 --> 00:48:34,750
S13: I have some sympathy for that perspective. I we are

893
00:48:34,750 --> 00:48:37,230
S13: not God, you know, his ways are higher than ours. Um,

894
00:48:37,230 --> 00:48:40,109
S13: we're talking when we talk about God. We we are

895
00:48:40,110 --> 00:48:44,250
S13: talking about someone who is lives in a completely different

896
00:48:44,250 --> 00:48:47,330
S13: realm of of understanding to us, you know. And, you know,

897
00:48:47,489 --> 00:48:49,770
S13: the reality is we're you know, if God is like

898
00:48:49,770 --> 00:48:52,770
S13: a human, we're like an ant, you know, scrabbling around.

899
00:48:52,810 --> 00:48:55,209
S13: We cannot have any conception, really, of the way God

900
00:48:55,210 --> 00:48:57,489
S13: sees things. And I think so it does mean that

901
00:48:57,489 --> 00:48:59,890
S13: we have to be humble, especially with these big questions

902
00:48:59,890 --> 00:49:02,650
S13: around suffering and meaning. We simply cannot see. The analogy

903
00:49:02,650 --> 00:49:05,569
S13: I've I've sometimes used in this area is when when

904
00:49:05,570 --> 00:49:08,089
S13: we had our one of our children, Jeremy, he was

905
00:49:08,090 --> 00:49:11,649
S13: born with a skin infection and it just less than

906
00:49:11,650 --> 00:49:14,530
S13: 24 hours old. I had to be there in the,

907
00:49:14,890 --> 00:49:18,690
S13: you know, the intensive care unit, helping a doctor to

908
00:49:18,730 --> 00:49:23,090
S13: administer some antibiotics through a syringe to this tiny, bawling newborn.

909
00:49:23,090 --> 00:49:25,410
S13: And I wished I could tell him, you know, his

910
00:49:25,410 --> 00:49:27,529
S13: doctor's doing this for your good. We don't want to

911
00:49:27,570 --> 00:49:29,450
S13: hurt you, but this is all going to be okay,

912
00:49:29,489 --> 00:49:32,009
S13: you know? But he can't understand that, you know? And

913
00:49:32,010 --> 00:49:33,810
S13: I think it's like that us with God, you know,

914
00:49:33,850 --> 00:49:37,290
S13: we we're like the child there. Yeah. The things that

915
00:49:37,290 --> 00:49:39,850
S13: seem so painful and so hard to understand, we cannot

916
00:49:39,850 --> 00:49:41,969
S13: see from God's perspective. And so we need to have

917
00:49:41,969 --> 00:49:45,299
S13: some humility to say no. Sometimes that is what trust is.

918
00:49:45,300 --> 00:49:47,180
S13: That is what having faith is to trust the God

919
00:49:47,180 --> 00:49:49,660
S13: we do know for the things we we don't know.

920
00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:52,100
S13: Having said that, I think, you know, we have been

921
00:49:52,100 --> 00:49:54,940
S13: given an intellect, a mind, a reason, and God wants

922
00:49:54,940 --> 00:49:57,180
S13: us to explore, wants us to look into these things.

923
00:49:57,180 --> 00:49:59,219
S13: Not that we could ever come to the end of

924
00:49:59,260 --> 00:50:02,419
S13: that understanding, but but nonetheless, I think God gives us

925
00:50:02,420 --> 00:50:04,420
S13: a mind in order that we can seek for him

926
00:50:04,420 --> 00:50:05,940
S13: and seek to understand him. And that's why I'm so

927
00:50:05,940 --> 00:50:08,980
S13: glad that there are answers to some of these questions. God,

928
00:50:08,980 --> 00:50:10,980
S13: in his grace has given us the ability to do that.

929
00:50:11,020 --> 00:50:11,339
S13: You know.

930
00:50:11,380 --> 00:50:13,940
S3: I'm just thinking about Pharaoh because a lot of people

931
00:50:13,940 --> 00:50:17,700
S3: appeal to Romans nine and say, well, God hardened Pharaoh's heart,

932
00:50:17,700 --> 00:50:19,900
S3: and this is the beauty of Scripture, Justin, is it

933
00:50:19,900 --> 00:50:23,900
S3: not because you can go back to Exodus? Forget the chapter. Um,

934
00:50:23,940 --> 00:50:28,219
S3: and you see, seven consecutive times Pharaoh hardened his heart

935
00:50:28,260 --> 00:50:32,460
S3: toward God long before God hardened Pharaoh's heart. It was

936
00:50:32,460 --> 00:50:36,259
S3: almost a solidifying of what was already there. How important

937
00:50:36,260 --> 00:50:41,000
S3: is intellectual debate to look at the broader context of

938
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:44,239
S3: Scripture and not pull out one little verse. Justin.

939
00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:48,640
S13: Well, absolutely. You know, you have to have context. Um,

940
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:52,200
S13: a text without a context is a pretext. It's, it's

941
00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:55,520
S13: it's simply making a point without actually looking at the

942
00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:59,200
S13: surrounding meaning of it. And, and sadly, that's often true.

943
00:50:59,239 --> 00:51:03,239
S13: You know, I often meet some skeptics who know some

944
00:51:03,239 --> 00:51:05,600
S13: particular verses of the Bible very well, but they don't

945
00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:07,840
S13: know the verses around that. That made me make sense

946
00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:11,399
S13: of that difficult Bible passage. So I would say, absolutely,

947
00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:14,480
S13: you you need to know the bigger picture if you like.

948
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:17,000
S13: And for me, that's that's often the case. The Bible

949
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,399
S13: isn't meant to be used as just a sort of

950
00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:22,680
S13: set of proof texts and individual verses taken out of context.

951
00:51:22,719 --> 00:51:25,719
S13: It's the Bible is really telling us a big story

952
00:51:25,719 --> 00:51:29,719
S13: of God's relationship with the world. And yet it's going

953
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:32,440
S13: to have highs and lows and bits that are difficult

954
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:34,520
S13: to understand. But actually, when you read the whole thing,

955
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:37,280
S13: and especially when you see that story through the lens

956
00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:40,730
S13: of Jesus, who is ultimately the culmination of that story.

957
00:51:40,730 --> 00:51:42,569
S13: I think that's what makes sense of it. You have

958
00:51:42,570 --> 00:51:45,049
S13: to have the the lens or the key if you

959
00:51:45,050 --> 00:51:49,250
S13: like to, to unlock the Bible, if you just, you know,

960
00:51:49,489 --> 00:51:53,010
S13: go into that difficult verse in Deuteronomy, you know, and

961
00:51:53,010 --> 00:51:54,770
S13: don't see it in the in the light of all

962
00:51:54,770 --> 00:51:57,330
S13: that Jesus does and the way in which he brings

963
00:51:57,330 --> 00:51:59,450
S13: all of those issues to a head in his own

964
00:51:59,450 --> 00:52:01,850
S13: death and resurrection, then you won't get it. And that's

965
00:52:01,850 --> 00:52:03,290
S13: just the fact of it. And that's why, yeah, you

966
00:52:03,290 --> 00:52:05,730
S13: do need to to see the bigger picture sometimes.

967
00:52:05,969 --> 00:52:08,930
S3: Give us the answer to this one. Why are you

968
00:52:08,969 --> 00:52:12,370
S3: still a Christian? After two decades of conversations with skeptics

969
00:52:12,370 --> 00:52:14,969
S3: and atheists, why try to whittle it down to a

970
00:52:14,969 --> 00:52:15,930
S3: paragraph or two?

971
00:52:16,130 --> 00:52:18,930
S13: Oh yeah, well, it really comes down to the fact

972
00:52:18,930 --> 00:52:21,690
S13: that I think Christianity makes sense, and I've had the

973
00:52:21,690 --> 00:52:24,969
S13: opportunity over a couple of decades now to really test

974
00:52:25,290 --> 00:52:29,690
S13: the Christian story, the Christian view of reality against other worldviews,

975
00:52:29,690 --> 00:52:32,810
S13: especially atheism, the view that there's no God. And while

976
00:52:32,810 --> 00:52:35,250
S13: there are important questions and objections that we all need

977
00:52:35,250 --> 00:52:38,350
S13: to hear and and try to resolve, Ultimately, I found

978
00:52:38,350 --> 00:52:41,230
S13: that Christianity makes more sense of so much more than

979
00:52:41,230 --> 00:52:44,670
S13: an atheist view. There are aspects of being human that

980
00:52:44,710 --> 00:52:46,670
S13: it's just hard to make sense of why we're here.

981
00:52:46,870 --> 00:52:49,030
S13: The very fact that we're here is hard to understand.

982
00:52:49,030 --> 00:52:51,950
S13: If we're here just by brute chance, it doesn't look

983
00:52:51,950 --> 00:52:54,629
S13: like the universe is set up in a way like that.

984
00:52:54,630 --> 00:52:56,670
S13: It looks like we were meant to be here. It

985
00:52:56,710 --> 00:52:59,870
S13: seems to be pointing to a divine mind behind this cosmos.

986
00:53:00,150 --> 00:53:02,910
S13: The fact that we believe in human value. Again, there's

987
00:53:02,910 --> 00:53:06,950
S13: no reason to believe that humans have inherent rights, dignity, value.

988
00:53:07,310 --> 00:53:09,750
S13: On a purely godless universe. And yet most of us

989
00:53:09,750 --> 00:53:12,470
S13: say that is the way things are. We do have

990
00:53:12,510 --> 00:53:14,870
S13: these these idea of human rights that, again, I can

991
00:53:14,870 --> 00:53:16,870
S13: only make sense of that if there's a God who

992
00:53:17,070 --> 00:53:19,190
S13: gives us, who's made us in his image and has

993
00:53:19,190 --> 00:53:22,230
S13: imbued us with that, that value and finally purpose. Human

994
00:53:22,230 --> 00:53:24,589
S13: purpose is another area where I would say you can

995
00:53:24,590 --> 00:53:27,510
S13: only make sense of what life is about if there's

996
00:53:27,790 --> 00:53:30,110
S13: an author of life. If we're just here in a

997
00:53:30,150 --> 00:53:32,549
S13: kind of a sad game that's been foisted on us

998
00:53:32,550 --> 00:53:36,400
S13: by purposeless process of evolution, I don't think that makes

999
00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:38,359
S13: sense of who we are as humans. But if we're

1000
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:41,080
S13: here because a God has created us for a purpose,

1001
00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:44,680
S13: I think that has given direction and meaning and purpose

1002
00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:48,080
S13: to countless people's lives. And it's just a better story.

1003
00:53:48,120 --> 00:53:50,319
S13: You know, in the end. So for me, it's about

1004
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:53,480
S13: saying who which story makes best sense of us as humans.

1005
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:55,920
S13: And I would say the God story is the one

1006
00:53:55,920 --> 00:54:00,000
S13: that for me, despite, you know, there are questions and mysteries,

1007
00:54:00,200 --> 00:54:03,160
S13: but it makes more sense. And that's why I'm still

1008
00:54:03,160 --> 00:54:05,839
S13: a Christian, even after two decades of talking to my

1009
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:06,640
S13: atheist friends.

1010
00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:09,920
S3: That's beautiful. Boom! Crew, I want you to get a resource.

1011
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:14,879
S3: This will encourage you big time. I want you to

1012
00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:21,200
S3: text the word belief to 800 555 7898. We're going

1013
00:54:21,239 --> 00:54:22,880
S3: to link you to a book, and you're going to

1014
00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:26,239
S3: be able to get and see more from Justin. Got

1015
00:54:26,239 --> 00:54:28,760
S3: a link for that as well. But we want you

1016
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:33,359
S3: to check this out. I gotta tell you, the the

1017
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:39,379
S3: ability To take from a man who's been in the

1018
00:54:39,380 --> 00:54:42,899
S3: mosh pit of discussion with skeptics and atheists. It's a

1019
00:54:42,900 --> 00:54:46,100
S3: huge benefit for us as Christ followers. Text belief to

1020
00:54:46,140 --> 00:54:54,020
S3: 805 55 7898. Just the word belief to 805 55.

1021
00:54:54,340 --> 00:55:01,380
S2: 7898 a basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali

1022
00:55:01,380 --> 00:55:05,299
S2: is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

1023
00:55:05,620 --> 00:55:08,859
S3: So you're reading along in a Bible reading plan, or

1024
00:55:08,860 --> 00:55:13,259
S3: you're doing Bible roulette. Bible roulette? Everybody's done that a

1025
00:55:13,260 --> 00:55:17,060
S3: time or two. God, I need you now. And boom!

1026
00:55:17,060 --> 00:55:21,580
S3: You grab that Bible, you flip it open. There's so

1027
00:55:21,580 --> 00:55:23,700
S3: many jokes associated with this. I'm not even going to

1028
00:55:23,700 --> 00:55:26,299
S3: go there. I know them all. But you open it

1029
00:55:26,300 --> 00:55:29,540
S3: up and you find something, or you're doing your Bible

1030
00:55:29,540 --> 00:55:33,149
S3: read through, or you just you want to give your

1031
00:55:33,150 --> 00:55:36,030
S3: kid a little devo and you're reading from the Bible,

1032
00:55:36,030 --> 00:55:43,310
S3: and then you go, oh, no, it's one of those. Oh, no.

1033
00:55:45,230 --> 00:55:47,830
S3: And those oh, no! Moments are awesome because they're brought

1034
00:55:47,830 --> 00:55:49,870
S3: to you by the Holy Spirit.

1035
00:55:50,590 --> 00:55:54,390
S4: Because, oh no means you're being convicted by something you

1036
00:55:54,390 --> 00:55:56,910
S4: may not have would have been convicted by. When you

1037
00:55:56,910 --> 00:55:58,150
S4: open that Bible the first time.

1038
00:55:58,550 --> 00:56:02,710
S3: This. Oh, no moment brought to you by the Holy Ghost. Yeah.

1039
00:56:02,710 --> 00:56:06,870
S3: That's what's happening. So we can tee this up around here.

1040
00:56:06,910 --> 00:56:12,350
S3: My goodness. My. Every day I have oh no moments. No,

1041
00:56:12,390 --> 00:56:15,189
S3: I mean, we do. And who knows. Not like an

1042
00:56:15,190 --> 00:56:20,469
S3: oh no like like there's no chance to turn it around.

1043
00:56:20,830 --> 00:56:24,669
S3: But those Ohno moments, you know, I'm laughing about them

1044
00:56:24,670 --> 00:56:27,790
S3: because we all have them.

1045
00:56:27,950 --> 00:56:28,469
S4: Mhm.

1046
00:56:28,790 --> 00:56:30,230
S3: But they're beautiful.

1047
00:56:30,510 --> 00:56:33,890
S1: Yeah. I mean I think a proper engagement with Scripture

1048
00:56:34,210 --> 00:56:39,609
S1: guarantees that you will have oh, no moments. And if

1049
00:56:39,650 --> 00:56:44,410
S1: you don't, then you're probably not engaging with scripture.

1050
00:56:44,650 --> 00:56:50,650
S3: Yeah. You've you've adopted a very, very dead orthodox approach

1051
00:56:50,650 --> 00:56:54,330
S3: to your Bible reading. Or you're becoming a knowledge broker

1052
00:56:54,770 --> 00:56:58,210
S3: and you're learning so that you can give it to

1053
00:56:58,250 --> 00:57:00,810
S3: someone else or say, you know, a little bit more.

1054
00:57:00,810 --> 00:57:04,529
S3: But if I agree, Ali, if you're reading the scriptures

1055
00:57:04,530 --> 00:57:09,730
S3: as God intended, for sure there are no moments. And

1056
00:57:09,730 --> 00:57:12,210
S3: I will say every day I've got my computer going,

1057
00:57:12,210 --> 00:57:14,290
S3: Gonzo here. I don't know what's going on. Hold on

1058
00:57:14,290 --> 00:57:15,930
S3: a second. Let me tell it to be quiet here

1059
00:57:15,930 --> 00:57:21,490
S3: for a moment. There we go. Um, so what was

1060
00:57:21,490 --> 00:57:23,610
S3: it for you, Jonathan? Come on, man.

1061
00:57:23,650 --> 00:57:27,770
S4: Yeah. Uh, my biggest one, without a doubt, was, uh,

1062
00:57:27,770 --> 00:57:31,140
S4: before I got saved. And when I thought I was saved,

1063
00:57:31,660 --> 00:57:33,900
S4: I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, a lot

1064
00:57:33,900 --> 00:57:36,419
S4: of difficulty, because God had been putting it on my heart.

1065
00:57:36,460 --> 00:57:38,820
S4: You know, I you know, you don't know me. You

1066
00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:40,700
S4: say you know me, but you don't. And I was like, God,

1067
00:57:40,700 --> 00:57:43,180
S4: that ain't true. That's just Satan trying to scare me.

1068
00:57:43,500 --> 00:57:47,260
S4: And I said, I know what will help. I'll jump

1069
00:57:47,260 --> 00:57:50,740
S4: into the word and I'll start journaling on it. And

1070
00:57:50,940 --> 00:57:55,780
S4: one night I opened up the Bible to Revelation three

1071
00:57:56,140 --> 00:57:57,980
S4: and revelation. Right? Uh, yeah.

1072
00:57:58,020 --> 00:58:01,580
S3: And good, good selection for good comfort.

1073
00:58:01,620 --> 00:58:04,740
S4: Yeah. Not so much that night. Uh, because I opened

1074
00:58:04,740 --> 00:58:06,460
S4: it up in the first verse, it wasn't even like

1075
00:58:06,460 --> 00:58:08,580
S4: I got 15 verses in, and then I got convicted.

1076
00:58:08,580 --> 00:58:12,180
S4: It was the first one. Revelation three one said, and

1077
00:58:12,220 --> 00:58:15,060
S4: to the angel of the church of Sardis, write the

1078
00:58:15,060 --> 00:58:17,260
S4: words of him who hath the seven spirits of God,

1079
00:58:17,260 --> 00:58:20,180
S4: and the seven stars? I know your works. You have

1080
00:58:20,180 --> 00:58:24,140
S4: the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. And, uh,

1081
00:58:24,140 --> 00:58:26,380
S4: and I don't know how much I read after that,

1082
00:58:26,380 --> 00:58:28,220
S4: but not a lot after that.

1083
00:58:28,280 --> 00:58:28,840
S5: Oh boy.

1084
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:33,840
S4: Because I was like, oh man, this is exactly what

1085
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:36,640
S4: I've been anxious about. I've been all nervous about this.

1086
00:58:36,680 --> 00:58:38,560
S4: It was still a few months away from me coming

1087
00:58:38,600 --> 00:58:42,880
S4: to Christ, genuinely. But I, uh, I said, well, I,

1088
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:45,600
S4: I definitely am worried that I have the reputation of

1089
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:49,000
S4: being alive, but being dead, and I feel like the

1090
00:58:49,000 --> 00:58:51,320
S4: word is trying to say something to me. And it,

1091
00:58:51,320 --> 00:58:54,000
S4: it it was an oh, no moment for me, that's

1092
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:54,520
S4: for sure.

1093
00:58:54,880 --> 00:58:56,640
S3: But it led to a oh yes.

1094
00:58:56,680 --> 00:58:59,360
S4: Yes, it absolutely. It absolutely was a part of the

1095
00:58:59,360 --> 00:59:01,560
S4: process that got me to where I am today.

1096
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:04,919
S3: Oh no. Super di. Come on sister, you're in Rev

1097
00:59:04,960 --> 00:59:05,720
S3: as well right.

1098
00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:09,200
S5: And it's revelations three as well. It's 316 when he

1099
00:59:09,200 --> 00:59:12,280
S5: talks about you are lukewarm. You're neither cold nor hot.

1100
00:59:12,360 --> 00:59:13,840
S5: But then it goes on to say I'm going to

1101
00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:16,320
S5: spit you out and in some translations vomit you out

1102
00:59:16,360 --> 00:59:19,920
S5: of my mouth. And I was like, oh, oh, I'm like,

1103
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:23,080
S5: I'm lukewarm. I'm like, I'm like, hey, that's my that's

1104
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:26,160
S5: what I am. I'm a I'm like, oh, just that

1105
00:59:26,160 --> 00:59:29,730
S5: visual for me was very jarring. That was my own. Oh,

1106
00:59:30,250 --> 00:59:31,650
S5: I don't want to be that.

1107
00:59:31,850 --> 00:59:34,290
S3: Yeah. No, you don't want to be that. And we

1108
00:59:34,290 --> 00:59:38,370
S3: all know what lukewarm is. Lukewarm. It's neither hot nor cold. Hey,

1109
00:59:38,410 --> 00:59:41,290
S3: who said that? That's right. It's Jesus. It's neither hot

1110
00:59:41,290 --> 00:59:45,530
S3: nor cold. It's just like. Yeah, and and it's. And

1111
00:59:45,530 --> 00:59:50,330
S3: it's what was flowing into the city of Laodicea through

1112
00:59:50,370 --> 00:59:57,490
S3: an aqueduct system. So Jesus used a very commonly experienced

1113
00:59:58,410 --> 01:00:03,410
S3: kind of tasting of tap water. And he said, as

1114
01:00:03,410 --> 01:00:06,450
S3: bad as it is to you, it's that bad to me.

1115
01:00:06,850 --> 01:00:09,050
S3: Let's get fired up for Jesus now.

1116
01:00:09,130 --> 01:00:09,650
S4: Mhm.

1117
01:00:10,050 --> 01:00:11,410
S3: Ali, what do you say sister?

1118
01:00:11,450 --> 01:00:14,729
S1: I mean recently I was reading in Isaiah and there's

1119
01:00:14,730 --> 01:00:17,730
S1: a lot of prophecy in this book. So I don't

1120
01:00:17,730 --> 01:00:21,050
S1: have the time or the study to break down the context.

1121
01:00:21,050 --> 01:00:24,250
S1: But I read this verse out of Isaiah 2411. This

1122
01:00:24,250 --> 01:00:26,950
S1: is in the New Living Translation. Mobs gather in the

1123
01:00:26,950 --> 01:00:30,310
S1: streets crying out for wine. Joy has turned to gloom,

1124
01:00:30,510 --> 01:00:34,790
S1: gladness has been banished from the land. And talking about

1125
01:00:34,790 --> 01:00:37,830
S1: the judgment of the Lord and the. For some reason,

1126
01:00:37,830 --> 01:00:40,830
S1: the picture of that of and really thinking about what

1127
01:00:40,830 --> 01:00:44,230
S1: that looks like when all of the things that people

1128
01:00:44,230 --> 01:00:48,750
S1: find take some sort of pleasure in everything is stripped away,

1129
01:00:48,750 --> 01:00:51,390
S1: and the stubbornness of still not turning to the Lord,

1130
01:00:51,390 --> 01:00:56,790
S1: but the idea of joy, gladness being taken away and

1131
01:00:56,790 --> 01:01:00,510
S1: people huddled up in their homes with just in just

1132
01:01:00,510 --> 01:01:04,950
S1: pure darkness. It was it really stopped me in my tracks.

1133
01:01:05,390 --> 01:01:08,550
S3: Yeah. That's an oh, no. And, you know, it didn't

1134
01:01:08,550 --> 01:01:12,350
S3: just stop you in your tracks. It adjusted you just

1135
01:01:12,350 --> 01:01:13,669
S3: a little bit aligned with.

1136
01:01:13,710 --> 01:01:14,270
S1: Yes.

1137
01:01:14,470 --> 01:01:15,470
S3: It's just so cool.

1138
01:01:15,510 --> 01:01:19,230
S1: It's sobering when you really take stock of what's at

1139
01:01:19,230 --> 01:01:20,150
S1: stake here.

1140
01:01:21,390 --> 01:01:25,960
S3: Oh, man, I love this. Um. preaching through Mark six.

1141
01:01:25,960 --> 01:01:27,720
S3: And I was reminded of something, and I did have

1142
01:01:27,720 --> 01:01:30,880
S3: an oh, no moment. You ever had someone you love desperately.

1143
01:01:31,120 --> 01:01:36,000
S3: And you you want them to come to Jesus so badly, right?

1144
01:01:36,080 --> 01:01:36,560
S5: Yes.

1145
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:37,320
S4: For sure.

1146
01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:37,920
S14: Yes, yes.

1147
01:01:38,160 --> 01:01:42,920
S3: And then you find this narrative where Jesus goes to Nazareth,

1148
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:45,240
S3: and I'm just going to do it from my heart

1149
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:47,880
S3: here right now. But he goes into Nazareth and he's

1150
01:01:47,880 --> 01:01:52,120
S3: teaching and he's expressing wisdom and and he's making headway

1151
01:01:52,120 --> 01:01:56,480
S3: like he is in every other town. But then folks

1152
01:01:56,480 --> 01:02:00,640
S3: look at him and they go, huh? Don't we know

1153
01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:07,760
S3: that family? Don't we know his four brothers? Isn't his

1154
01:02:07,760 --> 01:02:11,560
S3: dad a carpenter? And you know what's being said right there?

1155
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:18,080
S3: They ain't all that. They they ain't all that. This

1156
01:02:18,080 --> 01:02:22,540
S3: is where you get this concept of familiarity. Brings. Brings contempt.

1157
01:02:23,820 --> 01:02:27,140
S3: And here's the principle that was an oh no for me.

1158
01:02:27,540 --> 01:02:29,980
S3: And I want you to hang your hat on this one.

1159
01:02:31,300 --> 01:02:33,820
S3: It could be that the people that you love the most,

1160
01:02:33,820 --> 01:02:37,220
S3: you will have the least impact in their life spiritually.

1161
01:02:37,220 --> 01:02:40,380
S3: And this is how you can pray God, even if

1162
01:02:40,580 --> 01:02:44,580
S3: they won't listen to me. Because familiarity a prophet is

1163
01:02:44,620 --> 01:02:46,900
S3: without honor in his own country is what that text says.

1164
01:02:48,100 --> 01:02:53,020
S3: Even if familiarity has bred breeds contempt in my kids life,

1165
01:02:53,140 --> 01:03:00,740
S3: in my spouse's life, in my friends life, God brings

1166
01:03:00,740 --> 01:03:05,140
S3: someone who's not so familiar that it will dilute any

1167
01:03:05,140 --> 01:03:09,340
S3: kind of words and smoke them by someone else. I'm

1168
01:03:09,340 --> 01:03:12,180
S3: going to sit back and I'm going to radiate as

1169
01:03:12,180 --> 01:03:17,620
S3: best I can, but God bring it. It's a it's

1170
01:03:17,620 --> 01:03:21,070
S3: an oh no, because you can't get around the reality

1171
01:03:21,070 --> 01:03:25,510
S3: that because everybody knew Jesus's family, they're like, yeah. In fact,

1172
01:03:25,510 --> 01:03:28,750
S3: the scriptures go on to say Jesus was really disappointed

1173
01:03:28,750 --> 01:03:34,710
S3: that so few responded, but they had superimposed the fallenness

1174
01:03:34,710 --> 01:03:37,630
S3: of his family and all that stuff on him.

1175
01:03:38,470 --> 01:03:41,670
S4: Sure, I saw that something. I saw Joseph walking around.

1176
01:03:41,670 --> 01:03:44,070
S4: I saw him hit his, hit his thumb with a

1177
01:03:44,070 --> 01:03:46,630
S4: hammer and say something he shouldn't have. You know, it's like.

1178
01:03:46,790 --> 01:03:47,030
S3: Blame.

1179
01:03:47,030 --> 01:03:50,110
S4: It. Yeah, absolutely. And it's like Jesus. I mean, that's

1180
01:03:50,110 --> 01:03:52,710
S4: his son. He couldn't. He couldn't be the savior of

1181
01:03:52,710 --> 01:03:53,190
S4: the world.

1182
01:03:54,310 --> 01:03:56,830
S3: Yeah. And when you read it, when the oh no

1183
01:03:56,830 --> 01:04:00,750
S3: becomes the oh, yes, I get it. It's a powerful thing.

1184
01:04:00,750 --> 01:04:02,590
S3: And it comes in a lot of different ways. And Ali,

1185
01:04:02,590 --> 01:04:04,790
S3: you're right, you can't read the Bible the way God

1186
01:04:04,790 --> 01:04:07,950
S3: wants you to read it one day, ever without an oh,

1187
01:04:07,950 --> 01:04:08,590
S3: no moment.

1188
01:04:08,950 --> 01:04:11,990
S1: No, I mean, we should aim for that. We should

1189
01:04:12,030 --> 01:04:15,870
S1: aim for the word of God to to cut. Because

1190
01:04:15,870 --> 01:04:17,230
S1: how else do we change?

1191
01:04:17,670 --> 01:04:19,950
S3: Yeah. Ali. Yes, sister.